Johnny Manziel: ‘My Plan Was To Take My Life’ - Aggies Legend on Struggles

Texas A&M Aggies legend Johnny Manziel opened up about his battle with mental health in a recent documentary

Matt Galatzan | Aug 4, 2023

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Texas A&M Aggies

There are few names more synonymous with the Texas A&M Aggies than Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.

Not only did he put Texas A&M on the map in the SEC, but he became arguably the most celebrated athlete in the history of the university.

Unfortunately, Manziel’s life took a few unexpected turns, and both his NFL career and personal life were affected greatly as a result.

Recently, Manziel opened up about his battles with mental health, revealing that he was diagnosed as bipolar and that at one point, he even considered taking his own life after a '$5 million bender'.

“I got diagnosed as bipolar and I felt like it was the same as being called an alcoholic or a drug addict,” he said in a new Netflix documentary. “I think I was just running from problems ... I had planned to do everything that I wanted to do at that point in my life. Spend as much money as I possibly could and then my plan was to take my life."

Manziel even admitted that, following his release from Cleveland, he attempted to go through with it and end his life. Fortunately, the gun did not fire, and Manziel survived.

"Still to this day, don't know what happened," Manziel said. "But the gun just clicked on me."

Thankfully, Manziel has begun his road to recovery after being in such a dark place, and has seemingly turned a mental corner.

Recently, in fact, plans were announced for his new bar in College Station - something that will bring Manziel back to where it all began.

Hopefully, for a long time.

If you are struggling with mental health, please contact the suicide and crisis hotline by dialing 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.

You can follow Matt Galatzan on Twitter @MattGalatzan

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Published Aug 4, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.