Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel was recently released from a rehab facility and made his first comments about his time away on Friday.
The 22-year-old apologised to the NFL franchise and its fans, while offering thanks for the support he has received.
"I would like to thank my family, friends, the Browns organisation, my team-mates, and Browns fans everywhere, for your patience, understanding, and support during my stay at Caron," the statement read.
"The doctors and staff have been amazing and what I've learned in the last couple of months has been tremendous. I owe private apologies to a lot of people that I disappointed but a very public one to the Browns organisation and the fans that I let down.
"I take full responsibility for my actions and it's my intention to work very hard to regain everyone's trust and respect. I understand that will take time and will only happen through what I do and not what I say.
"I also understand there's a lot of curiosity about this but anyone who has a friend or family member that's been through things like this knows it's an ongoing process.
"I'm going to continue to ask folks to try to respect my privacy as I determine to what degree I am comfortable talking about a subject which I consider very personal.
"Most of you have been considerate about that and I thank you for it. I look forward to seeing my team-mates next week and focusing on football and my desire to be the best possible player, team-mate, and man that I can be.”
The Browns' off-season workouts begin on April 20 and reports indicate Manziel has a lot of work to do on and off the field, with franchise captain Joe Thomas recently suggesting that Manziel lost the trust of the locker room last season.