All Johnny Manziel had to do was ask.
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According to Cleveland.com, Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains conducted a radio interview Thursday on Sports Talk with Bo Mattingly on Arkansas ESPN, in which he said a text Johnny Manziel sent to him led to the Browns trading up to No. 22 to acquire the Texas A&M quarterback in last weekend's NFL Draft.
"We're sitting there and they keep showing Johnny on TV," Loggains said during the radio interview, "and Johnny and I are texting and he shoots me a text and he says, 'I wish you guys would come get me. Hurry up and draft me because I want to be there. I want to wreck this league together.'
"When I got that text, I forwarded it to the owner and to the head coach (Mike Pettine). I'm like 'this guy wants to be here. He wants to be part of it.' As soon as that happened, Mr. (owner Jimmy) Haslam said, 'pull the trigger. We're trading up to go get this guy.'
Browns owner acts on homeless man's plea to draft Johnny Manziel
"It shows you what type of competitor the kid is and I got to spend so much time with him leading up to this process,'' said Loggains, a former Arkansas Razorback. "I feel like I know him very well. I had a good relationship with him. That's the type of kid this guy is. He wants to do well. He's got a chip on his shoulder and he decided to be a Brown.''
The Browns moved up from No. 26 to No. 22 to take Manziel, the last possible spot they thought they could get the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner.
According to Loggains, the Browns - who traded out of the No. 4 pick and took cornerback Justin Gilbert with the No. 8 pick - nearly traded up twice to get Manziel. They had discussions with the Tennessee Titans for the No. 11 pick and with the Cowboys for the No. 16 pick.
"Mr. Haslam and coach Pettine had called me down to the draft room a couple of times throughout the night and we had almost made trades with Tennessee and Dallas and backed out,'' he said. "...We were sitting there and coach Pettine keeps texting me, and we're going back and forth and we're going 'hey does Dallas take him here, no they won't. Does St. Louis take him at 13?' We knew we had to get in front of the Chiefs (at No. 23) because we knew they would draft him.''
If that's how it happened, it's a much better story than Haslam saying a homeless man convinced him to select Manziel.
What do you think of the Cleveland Browns selection process in being swayed by a text message to take a first-round draft choice? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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