Does Johnny Manziel deserve another NFL shot? Public is divided

Johnny Manziel arrived in the NFL in 2014 as one of the most heralded young quarterbacks in years. Two seasons later, he’s out of the league, with no definite prospects and looming court challenges. Does he deserve another shot?

Yahoo Sports and YouGov partnered to conduct a survey of 3,704 adults interested in the NFL, specifically the NFL draft, and uncovered some interesting findings regarding Manziel. Americans remain largely split as to whether Manziel deserves another chance in the NFL.

Of the adults surveyed, 40 percent believe Manziel should get another shot in the NFL, while 42 percent do not. (The survey did not ask whether Manziel does not deserve another chance because of his behavior, or because of his skills.) Eighteen percent did not offer an opinion.

As one might expect, age played a significant role in whether a respondent believed Manziel deserved another shot. Nearly half of 18-34-year-olds, Manziel’s prime demographic, believed he should get another chance, while only a third of the back-in-my-day 55-and-older crowd believed Manziel had earned that chance.

Also as part of the survey, YouGov developed a word cloud based on the words people most commonly used to refer to Manziel. That’s a little more definitive: the word “good” is the largest descriptor, but almost every other word after that, including “loser,” “idiot,” “troubled,” and “stupid,” has a negative connotation. Clearly, Manziel has to win not only the fight to get back on the field, but to persuade Americans he’s not the sum of his negatives.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.