Johnny Manziel inserted himself into a Barstool Sports feud Saturday and came out in the end looking… more mature than you might expect. Well, at least more mature than his counterpart.
The drama started when Manziel added a photo to his Instagram story featuring himself wearing a shirt depicting actor and former Barstool personality Michael Rapaport in a clown nose. Barstool notably created and marketed the shirts last month after firing Rapaport amid a dramatic internecine feud.
Rapaport, who recently sent Barstool a cease and desist letter in an attempt to halt sales of the T-shirt, quickly caught wind of Manziel’s Instagram photo and issued a response over Twitter, mocking the embattled quarterback for his substance-abuse problems.
“Yo Johnny Manziel you cluck head bath salt sniffer,” Rapaport wrote, “I told you before you need SweatShirts it’s gets cold in Canada,you ain’playing in the NFL again Cluck Head. Take yourself to a meeting asap, before you have a relapsemo @JManziel2?? Saturday’s are for 12 Step Meetings.”
Manziel, as Rapaport crassly alluded to, has dealt with drug, alcohol and mental-health issues for much of his time in the public spotlight. Those troubles have cost him his NFL career and forced him to pursue a job in the Canadian Football League.
https://twitter.com/MichaelRapaport/status/972553834198257664
Manziel could have responded to Rapaport with a similarly personal dis that further inflated the feud. Instead, he wrote “That’s cool man you can make fun of AA, Mental Health, whatever sleeps at night.” And then: “I’m doing what I have to do to not be an asshole anymore. You should try it, life’s better on this side.
That’s cool man you can make fun of AA, Mental Health, whatever helps you sleep at night. I’m doing what I have to do to not be an asshole anymore. You should try it, life’s better on this side https://t.co/vmtqWLdxZN
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) March 10, 2018
Rapaport did not seem to take Manziel’s message to heart, because he fired back that the quarterback was a “Bum Ass Pill Popper.”
Bum Ass Pill Popper you started talking shit to me & now your copping feelings?
Stay out of Vegas you bum you.
This is RUDY. Worry about that Bath Salt habit & now real ones https://t.co/EUUs3JXtWs— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) March 10, 2018
Apparently through taking the high road, Manziel retorted by calling Rapaport a “goofy bum.”
I came at you? Or I posted a shirt from Barstool with your face and you’re crying about it so you @ me? Lol you’re a CLOWN just like the shirt you goofy bum https://t.co/WnHngo1Ues
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) March 10, 2018
Rapaport then called Manziel a “pillheadpunk” and twice repeated the “bum” epithet, because that seems to be the only insult these guys know.
UBUMU
I’m not crying crack https://t.co/9NXK8pUH5r ain’t Rooking me pillheadpunk.
Go work on your on shortcomings in life & on the football field & get yourself to a meeting NOW bum.
You ain’t manipulating this shit Cluck Head https://t.co/zHYz8uVcKy— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) March 10, 2018
This back-and-forth was pretty exhausting overall, but there do seem to be two worthwhile takeaways:
- Don’t make fun of mental illness and substance-abuse issues because those things aren’t funny.
- Every one of us can work on not being an asshole.
About Alex Putterman
Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.