Brady Quinn: Johnny Manziel’s criticism of Browns ‘sounds like excuses’

Brady Quinn and Johnny Manziel share a common bond as former Cleveland Browns quarterbacks.

And Quinn continues to pay close enough attention to the Browns to believe they were wrongfully called out by Manziel for failing to recognize he wasn’t mentally prepared to do what was necessary to live up to the first-round draft pick they invested in him in 2014.

‘They didn’t want you; Jimmy Haslam, the owner, wanted you’

“It sounds like excuses to me,” Quinn said while co-hosting with A.J. Hawk on the SiriusXM Blitz. “It sounds like someone who’s looking for things to blame, yet kind of turns it around and says, ‘But there’s no one to blame but myself.’ It’s like, well, then why talk about the Browns? Why say, ‘If they did their homework.’ Because they did do their homework. They didn’t want you; Jimmy Haslam, the owner, wanted you. You were his pick. They wanted someone else that year.

“And, so … even though he caps it off by saying, ‘There’s no one to blame but myself,’ then why throw them into it? If you didn’t know, like every other player that enters the NFL, how to be a pro, that wasn’t abnormal. Like, guess what? It’s a different game, it’s a different league. You don’t think there’s a thousand other players who are going through the same, exact issue that you’re going through, understanding how to be a pro, their offense, how to study tape? And doing it as a professional?”

‘There’s a lot of players out there who are going through much greater struggles’

As far as Quinn is concerned, Manziel is simply trying to cover up his own immaturity and missteps. The Browns should never have been part of the discussion.

“Because at the end of the day, there’s a lot of players out there who are going through much greater struggles, who didn’t come from an affluent family, who didn’t come from a great background, and they still found a way to make it,” Quinn said. “They still figured out a way to be a pro and to play in the league. And I just look at that as taking what you were given for granted. To play in the NFL is a blessing. It’s a reward. You are so fortunate.

‘You don’t think (former Browns coach) Mike Pettine did everything he could to try to afford him an opportunity to play?’

“And I’m sure he’s realized that now that he’s been out, because it truly is something that is so unique and it’s such a rare opportunity in this life that we all get. And to sit there and just, all of a sudden kind of take aim at the Browns for not doing their homework? They tried Jimmy Haslam out of taking you.

“Unfortunately, that was a decision that the owner made … You don’t think (former Browns coach) Mike Pettine did everything he could to try to afford him an opportunity to play? Get out of here with that noise.”