Johnny Manziel on how addiction issues got worse after Browns drafted him: 'I learned what depression was'

Former college football star Johnny Manziel opens up about his struggles with mental health and depression at a conference.

Johnny Manziel still remembers the moment his football career went all wrong. 

He remembers the lights and crowd of Radio City Music Hall in New York City on draft night 2014. He remembers the moment he walked on stage after getting drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Browns after a successful college career.

And more than anything else, he remembers the crippling depression that struck him afterward. 

"I had the chance to walk across the stage at Radio City Music Hall and be a No. 1 draft pick in the NFL. I had everything in my life I could have ever wanted. I had money. I had fame. … And, for some reason, when I got there and I got everything that I wanted, I think that was truly the most empty I had ever felt inside," Manziel said during a Q&A with students and recovery addicts at the annual VitAL health conference at the University of Alabama Monday in video obtained by Fox News Digital.

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Quarterback Johnny Manziel of the Cleveland Browns walks off the field after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs Dec. 27, 2015, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.  (Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images)

"I think from there I started to really turn and isolate and focus on doing the wrong things, doing things that temporarily made me feel better, that temporarily made me happy. So, I learned slowly what depression was." 

At the time, Manziel was entering the NFL after two years of being one of the top stars in college football history. His two-year run at Texas A&M included a Heisman Trophy, a historically shocking win against Alabama, several broken records