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Johnny Manziel's friends tell TMZ they worry he's going to die

Johnny Manziel faces a misdemeanor domestic violence charges in Dallas . (AP)
Johnny Manziel faces a misdemeanor domestic violence charges in Dallas . (AP)

The Johnny Manziel story has played out in so many weird ways, and that was even before his friends went to TMZ to express that they're worried about him dying.

Manziel is seeing his downward spiral play out on TMZ, from reports of him showing up at various parties, being the passenger in a single-car accident and getting kicked out of a club in Vegas, so maybe the natural order of progression is having a pseudo intervention on that site.

"He's in a horrible downward spiral," is how one anonymous source described Manziel to TMZ. Another source told the site, "If he continues this way for much longer he will die.” 

That's not the first time that has been said publicly in the media. Manziel's father said earlier this year that he was worried his son could die soon.

From the sounds of the TMZ story, his friends have tried to confront him about his partying ways, but are pushed away. One group talked to him about his situation and he "flipped out," TMZ said.

Now Manziel's friends are hoping TMZ's story "will serve as a wake-up call," the post said.

We've never seen a professional athlete's destructive story play out publicly quite like this before. Each story, most of which are being reported by a celebrity gossip site, has been bad. Even those who were strangely wondering earlier this offseason if Manziel would get another chance in the NFL have given up that pipe dream.

The way it stands now, Manziel has zero chance of ever playing professional football again. He'd have to rehabilitate himself first, then rehabilitate his image, before a team even considers signing him. And even if a team started to investigate whether that was a good idea, the fact that Manziel never showed he could be a competent NFL starter won't make him a good candidate for a second chance. All that's left is watching what happens to him off the field.

Here's what we have now: A gossip site citing anonymous associates pleading for Manziel to get help, and publicly worrying about his safety and future. It's not getting any better.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!