Manziel: 'I wouldn't be sitting here today' if Cowboys drafted me

Johnny Manziel's time with the Cleveland Browns was largely marred by controversy, but he believes things could've turned out even worse for him had he ended up in Dallas.

During an appearance on Shannon Sharpe's "Club Shay Shay" podcast, the former Texas A&M quarterback explained how even though he wanted to be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, he's thankful it didn't happen.

"The 16th pick of that draft was Dallas," Manziel said. "I remember the anticipation in Radio City (Music Hall) when that pick was coming up, and I had my fingers crossed under that table the entire time. 'Please let me go put that star on my helmet.' Looking back now, thank God that it didn't happen because I wouldn't be sitting here today."

Manziel told Sharpe that because of how familiar he was with Dallas and the people he had in his circle at the time, he likely would've found himself in serious trouble there.

"I think, knowing what I was doing in Cleveland, how hard it was for me to party and move and do these kinds of things, if you would've put me in a landscape that was my backyard, that I knew," he said. "I had been driving from College Station up to Dallas when there ain't nothing going on in College Station. So, it was something I was familiar with. I know who I was hanging around at that point in my life, and I think it would've been just an absolute disaster.

"It wouldn't have been suicide that would've been the issue; it would've been drinking and driving. It would've been taking a bag from somebody you shouldn't take it from and just, boom. It could've been over in an instant."

Manziel was selected 22nd overall by the Browns in the 2014 NFL Draft and spent two seasons in Cleveland before being released by the team.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admitted in 2014 that he wanted to draft Manziel but was talked out of it by his son, Stephen Jones. The Cowboys instead took offensive lineman Zack Martin, who became a seven-time first-team All-Pro.