Johnny Manziel's Family Home Destroyed By Fire; Officials Investigate

Officials in Texas are investigating a fire early Wednesday morning that caused a home owned by a family member of Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel to collapse.

K-9 units were requested to investigate the fire, which happened east of Lake Tyler at the home of Paul Manziel, according to KLTV.

Both Johnny’s father and grandfather are named Paul, and local media had conflicting reports about which one owned the home.

The Smith County Fire Department got a call at 1:13 a.m. local time about the fire, and the house was “up in flames” by 1:30, KLTV reported.

The house collapsed by 2:00, KLTV said. No one had been home for two days, and no injuries were reported.

“We have recovered evidence that points to suspicion (of arson),” Smith County Fire Marshal Jay Brooks told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “We are conducting a thorough investigation, and we are planning on calling in the State Fire Marshals office, because we would like to have an accelerate sniffing canine to go over the scene. Right now it’s just too hot.”

Manziel was born in Tyler, Texas, and played high school football at Tivy High School in Kerville, Texas. He went on to star at Texas A&M, winning the Heisman Trophy after his redshirt freshman season.

Manziel went pro a year later and was drafted by the Browns with the 22nd overall pick in 2014.