BEREA, Ohio -- Johnny is sharp. Johnny draws attention. Johnny likes to party.
The Cleveland Browns knew all of the above before they drafted Johnny Manziel earlier this month.
Almost three weeks in, theirs looks like a pretty good scouting report. And as the Manziel Show moves on to another week and another chapter, the Browns are showing a united front in accepting everything that comes with the drafting of a guy who's still the backup quarterback.
"(There's) a price tag for the reputation he has," Browns coach Mike Pettine said Wednesday.
After taking first-team reps in his fifth offseason practice with the Browns, Manziel answered questions about his much-photographed holiday weekend in Las Vegas by saying he "was surprised it was a story" and that he's "learned to accept" life as a celebrity in the social media and camera phone era.
"I'm going to live my life to the fullest," Manziel said.
Heeeeere's (life with) Johnny.
"Hopefully the chaos will die down a little bit," Manziel said later. "Maybe it won't."
Asked many of the same questions, Pettine said he had no issues with Manziel's commitment to football and said he knew of Manziel's Vegas trip in advance, adding that his only advice was, "Have fun."
The pictures indicate he did.
It's hard to believe that by now Manziel would really be surprised by the attention and the fanfare. Johnny Football has been not just a nickname but a phenomenon for more than 18 months now, and the Browns knew exactly what they were getting themselves into when they made their third trade of the first round and selected Manziel on May 8.
Unprecedented attention was coming, not just to these spring practices but to Manziel's every move.
"I'm just used to it," Manziel said of the attention and scrutiny. "It's been life for so long; I really wouldn't know what it would be like any other way. I can't really think back to the days of how it was when I don't have people tweeting or taking pictures of wherever I was. I don't mean that in a way to have a big head or anything like that. It's just how things are. For some reason, wherever I go, people want to take pictures. They think I'm doing something wild when I'm just living the normal life."
Last week, Browns general manager Ray Farmer said Manziel was behind Brian Hoyer "by a significant margin" in the battle to be the starter for the Sept. 7 season opener. With Hoyer still not fully medically cleared in his comeback from ACL surgery last fall, Manziel has been getting more reps with the top two offensive units.
Pettine and Browns offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan have said reps are being counted and scripted to ensure a fair competition. As for Manziel's dedication to winning the job, they've said there have been no problems with Manziel putting the playbook and his studies before flights to Vegas or champagne-soaked parties.
"Johnny has worked as hard as any quarterback I've ever been around," Shanahan said. "He's been here all day and all night."
Said Pettine: "We won't micromanage our players outside the building."
Manziel has acknowledged some past missteps but has carried himself like a seasoned pro since arriving with the Browns, saying Wednesday that he's been so busy working on football that he hasn't seen Downtown Cleveland and hasn't been anywhere except the team facility, the hotel he shares with the other rookies "and maybe Chipotle."
Everybody has to eat, even those subject to camera phone shots when they do.
"Right now the thing that I'm just wondering about the most is, I haven't really done anything at this level," Manziel said. "I haven't done anything to establish myself or create this type of buzz or anything like that. I'm just another rookie. I'm just another guy that comes up just like any other quarterback or any other guy does from the next year. Yeah, (I won) the Heisman Trophy and did some okay things in college, but I haven't done anything here.
"So for me, I'm trying to just accept the buzz that's kind of like it was in college even though I haven't done anything here."
This weekend, Manziel is due in Los Angeles for the NFL's Rookie Premiere, an NFL Players Association marketing event. More than 35 rookies are set to attend, and the agenda is full. Per usual, Manziel will be the star.
By mid-Wednesday afternoon, pictures of Manziel trying on suits at a local mall started showing up on Twitter.
Manziel trying on suits at Southpark Mall in Strongsville! #JohnnyStrongsville pic.twitter.com/p06cw1MQzz
— Jeff Swboni (@swboni) May 28, 2014
He has to look good for the cameras in L.A. And as soon as that's all over, he has to be back to work.
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