Written by Bill Livingston at Cleveland.com
The “thwop-thwop-thwop” of helicopters sounded over the North Texas prairie as police searched for Billy Vegas over the weekend. It was much more likely that the last grotesque alter ego of the former Johnny Football would be found than the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback.
It seems almost certain that the Browns have run out of patience with him and that his future, if any, is elsewhere.
Billy Manziel was the actual alias Manziel used at his last “Viva, Las Vegas” tribute, when he was spotted, improbably and ineffectively disguised in a blond wig, glasses and a fake mustache. As bad disguises go, it beat Jill St. John as Robin, the Boy Wonder, in the 1960s TV series, “Batman,” but not much else.
Manziel’s Browns career probably ended there, however, so the nickname fits.
he Browns struggled through another season of forgettable performances on the field and Manziel’s partying without restraint off it.
In his short Browns career, Manziel has appeared on a swan raft with a bottle of champagne almost as big as the littlest rebel himself; sported a rolled-up dollar bill, which, in the most charitable interpretation, “spoofed” cocaine snorting; engaged in troubling arguments with his girlfriend (now his ex-girlfriend, which is part of the story of the helicopter search); and wore a toga to a party at the Delta house.
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