Netflix’s Johnny Manziel Doc Was Bizarre, Poorly Done

Also in Traina Thoughts; NBA’s 2023–24 schedule notes; Trea Turner’s turnaround; Iowa gambling scandal and more.

1. Netflix got a viral moment earlier this week when a scene from Untold: Johnny Football revealed that Johnny Manziel watched no film at all while with the Browns.

That was pretty much the only thing you learned in the show, and I’m not sure how many NFL fans actually thought Manziel studied film based on how he played.

The documentary had a lot to work with. Manziel revealed he had planned to party and spend as much of his money as possible before killing himself. He claimed the gun he used to take his life malfunctioned.

The show spent about 30 seconds on this entire subject.

Untold made sure to give you 45 minutes on Manziel as a great high school player and legendary college football player and epic partier. Stuff every football already knew about. 

The show then spent 10 minutes on his postcollege struggles, including, according to Manziel, a cocaine and oxycodone addiction, a flameout in the NFL and a short-lived stint in the CFL.

In one of the rare compelling moments, Manziel’s sister appeared on-screen and said that her brother is still not well. The show did not explore this at all.

The opening of the doc showed Manziel lighting something up and smoking it. The end of the show showed Manziel drinking a beer.

I’m not saying we needed an hour on addiction and the struggle of staying sober, but considering how the doc highlighted Manziel’s drinking, and Manziel talked about his drug habit, these shots were not only bizarre but also made the lack of substance in the documentary glaringly obvious.

2. The NBA games for opening night and Christmas Day were leaked by Shams Charania on Thursday.

JUST IN: Opening Night schedule for the 2023-24 NBA season Oct. 24 on TNT, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium:

- Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets
- Phoenix Suns @ Golden State Warriors

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 10, 2023

NBA’s Christmas Day games for the 2023-24 season, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium:

🎄Bucks @ Knicks
🎄76ers @ Heat
🎄Celtics @ Lakers
🎄Mavericks @ Suns
🎄Warriors @ Nuggets

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 11, 2023

Remember, those NBA games will be going head-to-head against an NFL tripleheader on Christmas Day this year.

• Raiders-Chiefs: 1 p.m. ET
• Giants-Eagles: 4:30 p.m. ET
• Ravens-Niners: 8:15 p.m. ET

3. This Trea Turner situation in Philadelphia is pretty great. Turner was slumping all season. Last Friday, the fans decided to rally around him and give him a standing ovation.

Since that gesture, Turner has turned his season around. 

4. We have another college football betting scandal, but this one seems a tad more serious since an Iowa player has been accused of betting AGAINST his team. As someone who likes to wager on college football, the kid should not have done this, but I’m not gonna fault him for betting against the Hawkeyes to cover a spread.

5. A new SI Media Mailbag went up late Thursday afternoon. This week’s topics include Tony Romo’s being under the microscope, CBS’s new NFL booth, Hard Knocks, ESPN Radio, college football TV deals and more.

6. The SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast is taking a week off, but we’ll be back next Thursday with a new episode. In the meantime, use this dark week as an opportunity to catch up on some of our best summer episodes in case you missed them.

• Chris “Mad Dog” Russo

• Scott Van Pelt

• Adam Schein

• Pat McAfee

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: It’s the first full weekend of NFL preseason games. We celebrate the occasion with this random halftime update from CBS’s legendary NFL Today studio show back in 1987. What a great show.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.