Johnny Manziel is still ruffling feathers and he hasn’t even played his first game of the season yet. Merrill Hoge fired some harsh shots at Manziel, even calling him a “juvenile punk”. Hit the jump for details.

A couple weeks ago we reported that Jets legend Boomer Esaiason had some strong words forManziel, and now Merrill Hoge took it to the next level!

Hoge appeared on Pittsburgh’s WDVE-FM on Wednesday and the conversation turned to the Steelers’ Week 1 opponent and their famous backup quarterback. Not surprisingly, Hoge didn’t have nice things to say, but he took particular offense to Manziel’s infamous draft night text to Cleveland quarterback coach Dowell Loggains, in which he vowed to “wreck this league.”

“That didn’t just burn players; it infuriates coaches. It told you, too, that he’s a juvenile punk. He was like that, and he’s still like that.”

But what really galls Hoge isn’t Manziel’s lack of talent, but the hype that obscures it and convince everyone Johnny Football is the second coming of John Elway.

“This is the one thing that probably burns me more about our league, the NFL, than anything is when a player like Johnny Manziel is drafted based on hype and excitement, not a true football skill. He really had no business being drafted in the first round.”

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