It appears Johnny Manziel has put his football days behind him.

"In the past, probably, is the way I'd characterize it," Manziel told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal when asked about his football career.  "I've finally got to a point where I'm trying to achieve happiness in life, not happiness on the football field.

"I know a lot of people probably want me to come back and play and give it another chance, but I don't know, as far as being a person and figuring out life as a young adult - trying to make it and figure it out - if I've ever been in a better place than I'm in right now. I can honestly say I'm happy and I'm doing the right things to try and put a smile on my face every day, and that means more to me than going out and grinding on a football field."

The 27-year-old last played with Memphis Express in the Alliance of American Football in the spring of last year, before the league suspended operations. His brief stint with the AAF came after the Montreal Alouettes were directed by the CFL to release Manziel after he violated one of the conditions the league set for him when he signed in 2018. 

A collegiate star at Texas A&M, Manziel became the first freshman to ever win the Heisman Trophy in 2012. He was drafted 22nd overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 2014 NFL Draft. His career with the Browns would last just two seasons before he was cut by the team. He joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2018 and was later traded to the Alouettes.

"During that time when I got drafted, I didn't put in the time that I needed to be a great player and I don't think my heart was in it," Manziel told the newspaper. "And I think when I went back to Canada, it was the same way. I truly believed and truly thought it was what I wanted to do, and my heart wasn't in it, and it worked out the way it did."

Manziel was 2-6 as a starter with Alouettes during the 2018 season, completing 106-of-165 passes (64.2 per cent) for 1,290 yards with five TDs and seven interceptions. He also ran for 215 yards on 29 carries (7.41-yard average) as Montreal (5-13) finished third in the East Division but missed the CFL playoffs.