Now things are getting nuts. Yesterday I gave the Dallas Cowboys credit for making good choices. Today I’m going to credit the Cleveland Browns. And it all revolves around the same guy.
Dap to Dallas for not touching Johnny Manziel. Dap to Cleveland for cutting him. And also- for not giving their fans a refund for him.
The team was considering offering their fans a “Johnny Manziel jersey buy-back” opportunity. Manziel’s jersey was the #1 seller in the NFL in early 2014, and this would allow fans who threw down for it to have a mulligan and return it. HELL NO.
They ultimately chose not to, and this is the right choice. You buy a jersey at your own risk. And if you paid 250 bucks for an official Manziel jersey, knowing his reputation coming out of college… That’s on you. You don’t get a bail out.
There’s precedent for this of course. The Ravens buying back Ray Rice jerseys made some sense because Rice was a model player for 6 years before he got on that elevator. The Pats took Aaron Hernandez jerseys back because they were duped enough to give a contract extension to a serial killer and fans thought they were safe to buy his gamer.
But Manziel? You had to knew this wasn’t going to work out. And you bought it anyway.
Before you buy an expensive jersey, to rock on Sundays… You better do research just like the team does. You want to know what the odds are this guy is going to get arrested, get traded, or get cut.
And just like the teams, you never really know, do you? It’s always a gamble. That’s why you only buy gamers for guys like Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton. Unless it’s a franchise dude who you know isn’t going anywhere for years, you should never buy the jersey. In other words- you should never buy a Browns jersey.
Because if the Browns started buying back Manziel jerseys… What about all the poor saps who paid money for Courtney Brown, Colt McCoy, Braylon Edwards, Derek Anderson and Kellen Winslow jerseys? Where’s their refund? They didn’t get one. And neither will anyone trying to return their Manziel gamer. Nor should they.
No refunds. No bailout. No brainer. Do your due diligence before you invest. Their return policy is they don’t have one. Nor should they.
