Manziel pursuing pro golf career: 'Golf has brought me freedom'

Johnny Manziel appears to be taking his pursuit of becoming a professional golfer seriously.

The former NFL quarterback announced on ex-teammate Chris Long's podcast in February that he was giving himself 12 years to make a PGA TOUR event. He has since relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona, where he's been playing eighteen holes, five days a week and practicing with PGA pros Jon Rahm and Tony Finau, as revealed in a feature by Brady Langmann of Esquire.

"Golf has brought me freedom," Manziel said. "Golf has brought me peace. And golf has brought competition back into my life."

Manziel has been out of the NFL since his release from the Cleveland Browns in 2015. He returned to the football field earlier this year, joining the Fan Controlled Football league for its inaugural season.

"I slowly started watching myself over a three-month period this spring," he said. "If we went out, drank, stayed up too late, or didn't feel like waking up, and had an eight o'clock tee time? I have not missed one single day of getting to the course and playing golf. If that was football, I can think of 10 instances where I overslept and didn't get out of bed to work out or go to practice.

"Every single day, no matter how bad I feel, I get my golf clubs, throw my shit on, and go play. And I love it."

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