Manziel boycott under way

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Floating on an inflatable swan was one thing. Being hunted by a police helicopter was too much.

Johnny Manziel’s hijinks have driven some fans of the Cleveland Browns to the edge, and they are sacking the headline-grabbing quarterback for a month — or maybe longer.

Tired of Manziel’s off-field transgressions, the latest being a possible assault of his ex-girlfriend over the weekend in Texas, fans have started a “Johnny Free February” movement on Twitter.

“I’m done with him,” said Chris McNeil, a diehard Browns fan whose 8-year-old daughter, Riley, came up with the idea for a social media boycott after hearing about more bad news involving Manziel.

“She asked me what we discuss on Twitter and I told her Johnny Manziel,” he said. “She rolled her eyes and said, ‘Why don’t you take the month off?’ Out of the mouths of babes.”

McNeil kicked off the campaign on Saturday night “not to tweet, retweet, or mention Johnny Manziel on Twitter in February or until he is no longer a Cleveland Brown.” As of Monday morning, McNeil said more than 1,000 people have signed up with some using the hashtag (hash)JohnnyFreeFebruary.

“It didn’t take very long for it to take off,” McNeil said.