NFL News: Johnny Manziel Fan Wanted A Hug From Johnny Football, Gets Punched Instead
Johnny Manziel hasn’t been getting much playing time on the field for the Cleveland Browns but the rookie quarterback is in the headlines again after one or multiple members of his entourage punched an apparent Manziel fan who was supposedly just going for a hug.
According to a police report acquired by CleveScene.com, a certain Chris Gonos tried to approach Manziel but was stopped by an entourage member named Kirk, who hit Gonos several times in the face. The said member of Manziel declared in the statement that he was just defending his client as Gonos was attempting to assault his client [Manziel].
Gonos was interviewed by the same website which broke the story.
“Yeah, it actually all started through me. We had a room – it was my brother’s birthday — so we were staying at the Metropolitan at the 9. We partied there, and at the end of the night I was going back up to my room, and I noticed the guy. I was like, 'Man, that’s Johnny Manziel.' They were trying to keep it quiet, keep it low, and I was like 'Johnny Football!' I was just excited,” Gonos said in the interview. “But anyways, I went to give him like a handshake, or dap or whatever you want to call it, one of his buddies like tackled me. It was going down, a whole bunch of people started fighting. It ended pretty quick.”
Gonos then stated that he got a bruised hip and elbow from the incident and stated that someone hit him in the back of his head as well. Gonos also said that Manziel sucker punched his brother during the brawl between his party and Manziel’s entourage.
Immediately, the Cleveland Browns franchise released a statement via general manager Ray Farmer.
"We are aware of the incident and are in the process of gathering additional information in order to gain a complete understanding of what occurred,'' Farmer said in the press release. "Nonetheless, the time of the incident is concerning to us. We continually stress to all of our players the importance of sound decision-making in an effort to avoid putting themselves in these types of situations. We have addressed this appropriately with the player and will have no further comment at this time."
Manziel, the 22nd overall pick by the Browns in the 2014 NFL Draft has only played in two games this season.