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NFL says it's still trying to help Johnny Manziel (after he's back from Cabo)

Johnny Manziel currently isn’t an active player on an NFL roster, but that doesn’t mean — so the league says — that it isn’t trying to help him.

The NFL says it has tried to help Johnny Manziel. But he apparently doesn't want any now. (Getty Imagine)
The NFL says it has tried to help Johnny Manziel. But he apparently doesn’t want any now. (Getty Imagine)

We saw Manziel’s salute to his father on Tuesday as he embarked on a vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico that showed the divide between father, who called him a “druggie,” and son. And even if Manziel’s chemical problems are not as bad as Dad makes them out to be, the out-of-work quarterback still has no job in the NFL and a pending court case that might levy him a suspension in the league even if he should find his way back.

Still, the NFL says it’s helping him. Or trying to.

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NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent was asked about trying to reach out to help Manziel in an appearance on The Rob Maaddi Show on 610 Sports ESPN Radio in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, and Vincent said the league is taking on that responsibility. Even if Manziel doesn’t appear too interested in that help right now.

“… As you can imagine, that’s our greatest challenge and personally, the greatest fear,” Vincent said. “It’s what you go to bed every night thinking how do you assist someone that’s really not interested or quite frankly doesn’t want to meet you halfway.

“You can have all the resources and they’re endless, confidential resources in your hometown, the individual club where the players or family members live. They’re there. They’re available. But if an individual is not willing to meet you halfway to get assistance, it’s very difficult because it’s something you can’t make an individual do anything.”

And for the record, Vincent isn’t downplaying any of Manziel’s issues right now. Not at all, in fact. Vincent and Dwight Hollier from the league offices and several members of Manziel’s former team, the Cleveland Browns (“from ownership on down, general manager, head coach, their player engagement director, everyone”) have all reached out to him this offseason. All to no avail.

“In this particular case, it’s obvious it’s gotten out of control,” Vincent said. “You see his parents … When a father speaks out about losing his son to potentially substance abuse, you know there’s a problem. Johnny’s not returning phone calls. He’s in different states.

“You kind of see him, you get notice of where he is off social media and that’s a challenge, but we won’t stop. We’ll continue to keep reaching out, letting Johnny know we love him, we care for him and we’re here when he’s willing and wants and is able to accept assistance, we’ll be there for him.”

We don’t know when Manziel’s Cabo trip is set to end, nor whether he ever will heed Vincent’s offer. But you can’t say the league hasn’t at least tried if what Vincent said was true.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!