Deion Sanders says ex-girlfriend ruined NFL star Johnny Manziel

AN NFL star who has thrown it all away isn’t to blame for his off-field scandals. An NFL great says an ex-girlfriend is at the centre of the disturbing troubles.

JOHNNY Manziel isn’t to blame for his off-field troubles, his ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley is.

As Deion Sanders tells Cleveland.com, the soon-to-be former Browns quarterback has let his own heart destroy his NFL career.

“Johnny’s in love,” Sanders said Thursday.

“And Johnny’s in love with something that’s crippling him right now. I understand it. And it upsets me that grown-ups don’t understand it. Because he feels as though this game don’t love him, the people in this game don’t love him, so the only thing that he associates with love is that thing that’s really inflicting a lot of pain on him and that’s his girlfriend.”

Sanders’ comments came hours before the details of the latest explosive incident involving the polarising 23-year-old and Crowley came to light.

A Dallas TV station reported that Manziel threatened to kill both himself and Crowley, and hit her several times.

The troubled Browns quarterback reportedly told Colleen Crowley “shut up or I’ll kill us both,” struck her several times — including on the ear — and seemed to be on drugs during an alleged altercation in Dallas last Saturday.

A pox on both your houses.

Crowley returned to her apartment in Fort Worth, Texas, and used help from a neighbour to call 9-1-1, while Manziel fled from the scene on foot as Fort Worth police dispatched a helicopter to search for him out of concern for his safety.

WFAA-TV was quoting a report by police in Fort Worth, where Manziel currently lives.

Fort Worth police did not file charges because they determined the incident occurred in Dallas, and Dallas police announced Thursday night they will not file charges against Manziel, either, deeming the case “closed.”

Manziel’s dad, Paul, has a much better grip on his son’s issues. Paul told the Dallas Morning News that his family twice tried to get Johnny into a rehab facility this week, but he resisted both times.

“I truly believe if they can’t get him help, he won’t live to see his 24th birthday,” Paul told the paper.

Crowley has been used as the scapegoat for Manziel’s issues before, as the Browns organisation reportedly wanted him to dump her last year following a roadside argument between the two.

Manziel is slated to appear at several Super Bowl parties in San Francisco this weekend.

Originally published as Deion Sanders says ex-girlfriend ruined NFL star Johnny Manziel