Johnny Manziel's dad tells ESPN: 'My son is a druggie'

Johnny Manziel's father told an ESPN reporter that his family has run out of ideas to help the former Heisman Trophy winner from Texas A&M and that they just want to move on with their lives.

The quarterback's dad, Paul Manziel, was as blunt as can be in a telephone interview with ESPN's Josina Anderson.

"He's a druggie. It's not a secret that he's a druggie," Paul Manziel told Anderson. "I don't know what to say other than my son is a druggie and he needs help. He just hasn't (sought) it yet. Hopefully he doesn't die before he comes to his senses. That's about all you can say. I don't know what else to say.

"I'm done. I'm done talking about it," he said. "If I have to bury him, I'll bury him. That's the fact. So if not, if he calls me and needs help, I'll go get him. Until then, he's on his own. I've done everything I can do. There is nothing (else) I can do as a father. Nothing. He's a druggie and everybody needs to accept it."

Manziel's father was asked what all the family has done to aid their troubled son.

"You have no idea. And the system failed," he said. "I had him in rehab and he escaped and the doctors let him go and that is a whole other story. So, I mean I had him (in rehab) and the system failed. It didn't work. He has more money than me, so he can outrun me. Like I said there are two things that are going to happen: He's either going to die, or he's going to figure out that he needs help. It's one of the two. But we've done everything that we can do. Life goes on. You can't just chase somebody that's not willing to listen."

Meanwhile, an attorney representing Manziel in a domestic violence case, inadvertently sent a lengthy text message to The Associated Press which expressed doubts about Manziel's ability to stay off drugs and alcohol. The text message also referred to a receipt that shows Manziel may have spent more than $1,000 at a drug paraphernalia store just 15 hours after he was involved in a hit-and-run crash.

Defense attorney Bob Hinton's text indicated Manziel's legal team was seeking a plea deal with prosecutors but suggested that could be difficult.

"Heaven help us if one of the conditions is to pee in a bottle," the attorney wrote.

Cox Media Group