"Rise. Fall. Manziel." This is Untold: Johnny Football. This documentary film directed by Ryan Duffy. In 2012, the brightest star in all of sports was an undersized freshman quarterback at unheralded Texas A&M, whose fervor on the field was rivaled only by his hard-partying ways off it - you can call him “Johnny Football”. The magnetic football player captured the nation’s attention and initially relished his alter ego, but as the money rolled in, the scrutiny heightened, and Manziel rejected his newfound fame and suddenly lost his way. With astonishing candor, Manziel – along with his family, coaches, his former best friend, and his agent – details what happened behind the scenes as scandals piled up in the glare of paparazzi flashbulbs. He had a controversial road, but Manziel went on to search for something even greater: inner peace and happiness with a quieter life that he reveals here.
In 2012, Manziel lead his team at Texas A&M to a record-breaking 11-2 winning season. In December of that year, the young quarterback made football history when he won the prestigious Heisman Trophy — the collegiate football world’s highest honor — making him the first freshman ever to do so. Manziel became a celebrity and began partying with other celebrities, flying to Miami for bender weekends, and making hundreds of thousands of dollars against NCAA rules by selling autographs. Despite drinking heavily and using drugs, Manziel’s final season at A&M was a success. But by the time the NFL draft rolled around, his partying had gotten out of control — and his reputation was starting to proceed him. He expected to get chosen as the first or second draft pick but ended up going to the Browns as the 22nd draft pick in 2014. Still impressive, but not as high up as he was expected to be chosen. When he joined the Browns, what little love he had left for the sport was gone. After a particularly public bender in Las Vegas that made Manziel miss a day of practice with the Browns, he was fired from the team. He was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, but chose to self-medicate with illegal substances. His drug use — which he said in the documentary involved cocaine and OxyContin — got even worse. His plan at the time was to commit suicide after partying himself out. After his failed suicide attempt, Manziel went home to Kerrville, Texas to stay with his parents. As of 2022, he’s a quarterback for the FCF Zappers, an indoor football league founded in 2020 as part of the Fan Controlled Football league that has fans vote on play calls and other aspects of the games.
We think we all know the story of Johnny Manziel, but the Untold entry on his life and career is still a valuable and insightful biopic. It was pure madness and there was plenty of blame to go around - but Johnny Football does a journalistically sound job of putting events in perspective. Johnny Football may not be a game-changing film but it shows that Netflix has potential to rival ESPN in the sports documentary department.
Simon says Untold: Johnny Football receives:
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