The sadness that is Johnny Football

It has always been the hardest thing to grow for those in the grip of their demons, and the saddest of all spectacles to watch them flail away at doing so.

And so again we revisit Johnny Manziel, the erstwhile Johnny Football, who continues to flail as he attempts to, yes, grow a clue.

Drew Rosenhaus became the second agent to dump him in two months the other day, saying the only way he'd retain him is if Manziel got the help Rosenhaus believes he needs. According to Ed Werder of ESPN, Manziel is the first client Rosenhaus has dumped in 27 years in the business.

It comes on the heels of Nike dumping him as a spokesperson at the end of last season, and the Browns finally throwing up their hands and cutting him loose. And of reports that Manziel, and some of his good-time buds,  trashed a rental house in yet another spasm of epic partying.

Down and down goes the spiral. On and on goes the cluelessness, Manziel releasing a statement that he is "hoping to take care of the issues in front of me right now, so I can focus on what I have to do if I want to play in 2016."

As if, you know, he just needed to get his car fixed or something. As if, you know, there's still the remotest chance he will play in 2016.

Right now that seems unlikely, with his high-end agent in the wind and his phone no longer ringing. Maybe some NFL team will take a chance on him -- although, if even goofy Jerry Jones backed away from him, it's hard to imagine what team that would be. Maybe some Canadian Football League team will snatch him up. Or maybe ...

Or maybe, finally, he listens to the silent phone and the people who have his best interests at heart, and at last gets serious about turning his life right-side up.

The Good-Time Charlie act was cute when he was a 20-year-old kid swaggering out of Texas A&M. But when it started to interfere with him doing his job -- and when it curdled into something darker when he was investigated for assaulting his girlfriend -- it ceased being cute and instead became obvious that he was no longer in control of his life.

Whatever you think of the kid, he's drowning right now. And that is never something anyone with a soul wants to watch.