Johnny Manziel's Agent Bravely Cuts Ties With Toxic Client

You’ve probably never heard of Erik Burkhardt, longtime agent to Johnny Manziel, but he had a brief moment in the NFL news cycle this morning when he released a statement claiming that he had officially cut ties with Manziel, the day after news broke that Manziel’s ex-girlfriend told police he had hit her repeatedly:

What this statement is supposed to make you understand is that Burkhardt is an upstanding professional who will no longer tolerate Johnny Manziel’s behavior. You’re supposed to read it and say, “Erik Burkhardt is a good guy who is making a wise decision.”

That works, so long as you forget that Manziel is the same guy today that he was yesterday, and that there has been every indication that Manziel has been heading down a destructive path for quite some time now, and that he has repeatedly been enabled by those in his inner circle. Burkhardt has been Manziel’s agent since the day the quarterback turned pro, and yet it was only when Manziel’s earning potential hit its all-time low that he felt compelled to distance himself in highly public fashion. Funny, that.

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