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Johnny Manziel is nearing a return to football, and also trolling the Browns

henry bushnell
Senior reporter

It’s been a while, but Johnny Manziel is in the news again – for multiple reasons. One of them: His first Instagram posts in seven months featured a dig at the Cleveland Browns.

Manziel hadn’t posted since May. He made his Instagram comeback with a photo of himself playing for the Browns, and captioned it with seven simple characters: “0-16szn.”

Cleveland Browns draft pick Johnny Manziel answers questions during an introductory news conference. The Browns picked Manziel in the first round. (Getty)
Cleveland Browns draft pick Johnny Manziel answers questions during an introductory news conference. The Browns picked Manziel in the first round. (Getty)

The caption has since been deleted, but screenshots never die:

Manziel last played for the Browns – and last played in the NFL – in 2015. He has since been accused of domestic violence, and dealt with substance abuse. He has not played a down of professional football in over two years.

In completely unrelated news – or perhaps in part because they wasted a first-round draft pick on Manziel in 2014 – the Browns have gone 1-31 since ridding themselves of Johnny Football. They recently completed the second 0-16 season in NFL history. The day after around 3,000 fans showed up for a parade to sarcastically commemorate the winless season, Manziel paid homage in his own way with the Instagram post.

But it’s not only “0-16szn.” It could be “#ComebackSZN” too. Manziel’s most recent Instagram post includes that hashtag. It coincides with rumors that he could be making his return to football in the Canadian Football League. And later Sunday, the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats confirmed they had made Manziel a contract offer.

The CFL confirmed last month that its commissioner, Randy Ambrosie, would approve a Manziel contract if a team chose to offer the former Texas A&M quarterback one.

The league said its review of Manziel’s eligibility “included an ongoing assessment by an independent expert on the issue of violence against women, a review by legal counsel, and an in-person interview of Mr. Manziel conducted by the Commissioner.”

Manziel worked out for the Tiger-Cats in September. The team’s head coach, June Jones, recently said Manziel would “be the best player to ever play” in Canada.

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