Bell Tolls: Johnny Football not fooling anybody following latest incident

“It was embarrassing but not serious.”

Johnny Manziel went on Twitter Friday night in an attempt at damage control, as news spread that the high-profile Cleveland Browns quarterback has another off-the-field incident on his record.

Chalk up that effort as another incomplete pass for Johnny Football.

Not serious?

Who is Manziel trying to fool? Maybe he’s fooled himself into believing that his episode in Avon, Ohio, on Monday — stemming from an argument with his girlfriend — wasn’t a big deal.

But we know better.

Fortunately, no one was hurt after Manziel, according to a witness, dangerously passed on the shoulder at high speed on a stretch of I-80. And his girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, is seemingly willing to forgive and protect after engaging in some form of a physical contact with Manziel, according to the police report.

They weren’t arrested, either, after police, according to their report, determined that Manizel — who spent 10 weeks in rehab during the offseason — had consumed alcohol earlier on Monday but wasn’t intoxicated while driving erratically and arguing with his girlfriend in public.

Shoot, the police made that determination without even administering a breathalyzer, which makes me wonder whether Manziel caught a break from the cops because he was a celebrity or had stumbled upon a real-life version of Barney Fife.

No breath test? Some people would be met with excessive force by merely encountering police.

And just think, police were called twice, by two witnesses from different vantage —  one from the highway and another from a neighborhood.

Yet the former Heisman Trophy winner tweets that it was not serious.

It’s very serious.

And it’s a case to test the legitimacy of the NFL’s new personal conduct policy, with the components including investigations that are run independent of the course that, say, bumbling or biased police may or may not pursue. Add the possibility of domestic violence to this case — which lacks a Ray Rice video, and may seem less of a threat without a woman wearing bruises — and the credibility of the experts the NFL enlisted since last year to deal with this hot-button issue may swing in the balance.

If Manziel, given his history, doesn’t view it as a serious matter, then it’s further proof that he needs a reality check in addition to whatever clinical support may be in order to help him deal with his issues.

Another passage from Manziel’s Twitter feed: “I know I would stop and check if I saw a couple arguing on the road.”