Buccaneers' Mike Evans opens up about Johnny Manziel revelations

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans spoke Wednesday about the information shared by former college teammate Johnny Manziel for Netflix's "Untold: Johnny Football" documentary released this week. 

"I knew he was in a very dark place," Evans said about Manziel while speaking with Jenna Laine of ESPN. "...I care about him, but, you know, I didn't know about his suicide attempt. That was news."

It was learned last week that Manziel said for the documentary he attempted to take his own life at some point after the Cleveland Browns cut him in March 2016. Manziel also acknowledged during the program that "it didn't take me very long to be in Cleveland to find out that I wasn't going to be happy there." 

Evans and Manziel played alongside each other and became college football stars with the Texas A&M Aggies. Tampa Bay selected Evans seventh overall in the 2014 NFL Draft, while Manziel went to Cleveland via pick No. 22 later that same night. 

Manziel revealed back in 2018 he suffers from bipolar disorder, and he has since openly discussed the mental health struggles he dealt with as a Heisman Trophy winner, an NFL quarterback and somebody who quickly flamed out at the highest level of professional football. 

"I thought it was very noble of him to do what he did, 'cause it takes heart to, like, admit a lot of that stuff," Evans added about Manziel. According to Laine, Evans and Manziel still "keep in touch on and off" even though the signal-caller hasn't appeared in an NFL game since the 2015 season. 

"People know -- I mean, he's a super-talented guy," Evans continued about Manziel. "I mean, obviously his time, it came and gone -- gone real fast -- and that's hard for people to deal with. Especially, he's like the first of his kind -- a rock star [college] quarterback who's hanging with all celebrities. Like, that's like the first of his kind, so he was in a tough spot early on."