The dominant headlines in sports — they’re exhausting

It’s Thursday, and I’m exhausted.

Johnny Manziel, a guy I’ve defended for three months even though it seemed obvious the 20-year-old Texas A&M Heisman-winning quarterback was overwhelmed with his celebrity status, is on the precipice of missing a large chunk (if not all) of the 2013 season because he may have accepted payments for signing autographs. We’re 38 days away from Johnny Football versus Nick Saban, but it might never happen.

On its own, I can handle the Johnny Manziel storyline. He’s not the sole reason it’s the middle of the week in August and I’m worn out.

I’m tired because anyone who wishes death to the NCAA and its garbled system of rules will contort Manziel’s story to bolster their own opinions on how student-athletes are poor, overworked and taken advantage of (they’re not).

I’m beat because Johnny Football is fading fast, and he’s doing it at the same time as Alex Rodriguez is fighting a 211-game suspension for his relationship with Biogenesis, a shady clinic in South Florida that doled out performance enhancing drugs like Santa delivers presents on Christmas Eve.

Rodriguez’s lengthy suspension is one aimed at kicking him out of the game on a permanent basis. Baseball wants a guy with 647 career home runs and a bloated 10-year, $275 million contract to vanish. Rodriguez will fight despite the fact that 13 other players accepted their suspensions, including the Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun. He’ll fight because he wants the $95 million or so the Yankees still owe him. I just want him gone. The never-ending Rodriguez drama wears me out. It’s August. The baseball playoffs are taking shape, but all of it’s overshadowed by Rodriguez’s refusal to slink away to retirement.

Here’s the thing, though. I’ll deal with PEDs in baseball and a star college athlete violating NCAA rules. I can put up with both stories at the same time. But then Riley Cooper and the video where he uses a racial remark hits the Internet. Suddenly, Cooper’s drunken escapade eclipses the questions regarding the Philadelphia Eagles’ new coach, Chip Kelly, and whether his hyper-offensive system can succeed in the NFC East like it did in the Pac-12 North.

The NFL preseason is upon us, but I’m drowning in how the career of a 25-year-old receiver with 46 career receptions survives this public relations mess. I’d rather spend time guessing how Tony Romo will completely fail to fulfill the expectations associated with his new $108 million deal.

And if I’m going to mention off-season happenings, it’s hard to not bring up Aaron Hernandez and the murder charges.

Since LeBron James and the Miami Heat held off the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, it’s been a summer of negative stories, one right after the other — seemingly on repeat.

I’ve followed all of them, and I’m drained. Football, basketball, baseball, sports, none of the storylines should sound like bad television dramas that never made it to air. I’m ready for football games to start, if for no other reason than they might distract from the summer of depressing headlines.