ESPN Report Disputes Claims Manziel Was Drunk At Practice, But Instead Was “Heavily Hungover”

After Adam Silver of NFL Network reported the Browns “lied” and “covered-up” an incident in which he was told by an unnamed player that Manziel showed up to practice drunk, Adam Schefter of ESPN disputed the report, saying an unnamed source told him Manziel was “heavily hungover” instead.

Unnamed players and anonymous sources clearing up all the confusion. The Browns already denied that they did anything out of the ordinary.

This is taken from ESPN:

One well-placed Browns source who had contact with Manziel on Dec. 30 told Schefter: “Manziel looked terrible. He wasn’t drunk, but he was heavily hung over on something. There was something going on there.”

Manziel complained that he was having trouble with light, was vomiting and had a headache.

“This wasn’t some massive cover-up,” the source told Schefter. “What are you going to do? You have to put him in the protocol.”

So whether or not Manziel was drunk or hungover really is not the question, but if the Browns did anything out of line in terms of the concussion protocol, that would be a serious problem.

Meanwhile, Silver backs his story, but says he regrets saying that the Browns “lied”. Here’s a quote from Silver:

“I’ve been told by multiple sources that Manziel showed up late to the team facility for a meeting & noticeably drunk on Wednesday, Dec. 30,” Silver wrote today. “He was later placed in the concussion protocol & sent home. I am not a doctor & thus cannot presume to question the diagnosis of an independent neurologist or any medical professional. I do not have direct knowledge of what Manziel may have told the doctor or doctors who evaluated him, or what might have been suggested. If the Browns say they did not lie about Manziel’s diagnosis, I will take them at their word, and I regret using that term (‘lied’). I stand by my original report that Manziel showed up drunk at practice & that witnesses believed this was the cause of his ‘behavior’.”

Needless to say we haven’t heard the end of this story as much as we wish it was over.

We’re 25 days away from March 8th, the day the Browns are expected to release Manziel. But who’s counting?