Johnny Manziel's second agent this offseason, Drew Rosenhaus, has informed the former Cleveland Browns quarterback that either he gets treatment or Rosenhaus no longer will represent him.
"I have terminated the standard representation with Johnny Manziel in the hopes of helping him get the treatment I believe he needs," Rosenhaus told ESPN's Adam Schefter. "I have informed him that if he takes the immediate steps I have outlined for him that I will rescind the termination and continue to represent him. Otherwise the termination will become permanent. There is a five-day window for me to rescind the termination. I'm hoping he takes the necessary steps to get his life back on track."
Rosenhaus said that from the beginning his agreement with Manziel was contingent upon the QB entering a treatment facility, which he has persistently refused to do.
"I wasn't walking into an easy situation, but it has descended," Rosenhaus told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday night. "It has consistently gotten worse. Quite honestly, one of the things I talked to him about from Day 1 ... was to get back to getting help, so that the reasons he was released by the Browns would be in the past and that he could move forward with his life as a positive member of society and take advantage of all the gifts that he has. ... The world can be his. But obviously, in many respects he needs guidance right now, he needs help, and needs to gain control of his life again. And obviously, before he can even think about football, he's got to do those things.
"This is a life-or-death situation. I'm not talking about football anymore. I'm talking about a young man who is in trouble. And at the end of the day, I have a responsibility. I'm not going to see him go down in flames with me as his agent."" Drew Rosenhaus, to SiriusXM, on Johnny Manziel
"Right now I believe for him to have a chance to have a successful life -- forget football for a moment -- I think it's imperative for him to get help. I'm taking a stand here purely to help this man. I got involved with the idea that I'd be able to make a difference, and l'm really grasping at straws. This is the last thing I can do."
Rosenhaus never has fired a player in 27 years as an NFL agent, according to ESPN's Ed Werder.
Manziel told TMZ last week that he had been out in West Hollywood five to six nights in a row and said he doesn't think NFL teams have a problem with his partying.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with partying, bro," Manziel said to TMZ. "There's a difference between partying and being out of control."
Manziel was the 22nd overall selection by the Browns in 2014, their second of two first-round draft picks that year. But his two seasons in Cleveland were marred by off-the-field struggles and limited on-the-field success, and he was waived by the team March 11.
Manziel spent 10 weeks in rehab after his rookie season and is the subject of a grand jury investigation in Dallas into whether he assaulted his former girlfriend. The NFL is investigating whether Manziel violated the personal conduct policy in that incident.
Since he spent the weekend of the Browns' season finale in Las Vegas, Manziel has made regular appearances on social media from locales that include Miami, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
"This is a life-or-death situation," Rosenhaus said on SiriusXM. "I'm not talking about football anymore. I'm talking about a young man who is in trouble. And at the end of the day, I have a responsibility. I'm not going to see him go down in flames with me as his agent. He's either going to have to take necessary steps to get his life back on track or he's going to have to find someone else to stand by and watch him injure himself. It won't be me."
Information from ESPN's Pat McManamon was used in this report.