For the first time, Johnny Manziel’s ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley publicly detailed their relationship that transpired during his turbulent time with the Cleveland Browns.
In an interview with Sarah Dorn of the New York Post, Crowley recalled Manziel’s drug addiction and erratic behavior at the time, and also confirmed that the accusations of abuse were true.
Crowley said Manziel did hit her first in October 2015 in an incident widely reported at the time, though she chose not to press charges.
“Your instinct is to be like, ‘What do we need to do — what do I need to say — to get him out of this?'” Crowley recalled. “I constantly felt like I had to protect him.”
Crowley described Manziel as erratic and “on edge” in 2015 as he fought for the starting job with the Cleveland Browns, and that he used cocaine and Xanax during that period before a stint in rehab. That stint helped for a while, but she said things took another turn for the worse in late 2015 as he was unable to solidify his grip on the Browns’ starting job, which made him “closed off” and “depressed.”
Subsequent reports about their relationship painted a picture of Crowley that she felt was unfair, particularly after the first reported domestic violence incident.
“People thought I was this party girl — crazy,” Crowley said. “I read things about me that were just not true.”
Crowley describes an abusive relationship with numerous fights, which made her fear for her physical well-being. By her account, Manziel had a habit of taking her phone during arguments, and she said he smashed four devices over the course of the relationship.
“I would have to [lock] myself in a closet or a room or a bathroom just to get him away from me,” Crowley said. “I felt like I didn’t have control over my own body. It was aggressive.”
In November 2015, Crowley recalled catching Manziel lying about his whereabouts and confronting him when he returned home three hours before a scheduled Browns game, appearing intoxicated.
“I locked the door and stuck a chair under it,” Crowley said. “I was on the phone with his parents. They could hear him trying to beat the door down until he eventually did. I gave him the phone and his dad was just like, ‘You need to leave Colleen alone or we’re going to fly up there.'”
Crowley ultimately broke up with Manziel in January 2016, but agreed to meet with him the night after the breakup. When she declined to stay with him that night, Crowley alleges that Manziel assaulted her, including striking her with a blow that caused her to lose hearing in one ear for three and a half months. Manziel drove her to her apartment, where she said he threatened to kill them both and was laughing and crying simultaneously.
“I think there was some mental breakdown because the way he was acting, it wasn’t anything like drugs or alcohol would affect a person,” she said. “This was more deep-rooted.”
At the apartment, the pair continued arguing until Crowley felt threatened and defended herself.
“Out of fear for my life, I pulled a knife out of my knife block and advanced toward him,” she said. “He ran out of the apartment.
“I was lucky to have survived. I fought for my life that night.”
Police eventually required a helicopter unit to locate Manziel after that fight, which was also reported at the time.
Crowley elected to tell her full story in the hopes of inspiring other women trying to move past abusive relationships.
“Immediately after [an assault] you feel so powerless — you’re stripped of your dignity, your self-worth,” Crowley said. “Trying to get back to that place where you really know yourself is a journey.
“I will never have closure. I will never publicly get an apology. That’s really hard, being so close to someone and you both knowing what happened.”
Manziel has recently been doing a lot of publicity in which he’s tried to come clean about some of his past behavior. He certainly hasn’t come clean about any of this.
