The Johnny Manziel show is back on.

The former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, who washed out of the NFL more than two years ago after a tumultuous stint with the Cleveland Browns, will make his first start for the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night, the team announced on Tuesday.

It will mark his first start in a professional game since 27 December 2015, when he completed 13 of 32 passes for 136 yards, no touchdowns and one interception for the Browns in a 17-13 defeat at the Kansas City Chiefs.

#AlsMTL (@MTLAlouettes) 🚨Confirmed!🚨



Johnny Manziel will be the starting quarterback this Friday, August 3 against the @Ticats. #AlsMTL #ToujoursGame #JohnnyFootball #Number2 pic.twitter.com/Soy42t6IGx

Manziel has been a backup for the first six games of his CFL career. The Alouettes have gone through quarterbacks Drew Willy, Matt Shiltz, Jeff Mathews and Vernon Adams Jr so far this season.

The 25-year-old told the Montreal Gazette last week that he is approaching his second chance at pro football with measured anticipation.

“I’ve tempered my expectations to not reach too high,” Manziel said. “I want to come in and I want to play solid football. That’s what I want to do. I realize there are going to be some growing pains to get there, because it is a process. I have been away from the game a little bit. I’m excited to get some reps, and I know I’m going to be putting in the time that I need to off the field to expedite that process.”

Manziel was selected by the Browns in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft amid questions over whether his modest 6ft frame would prevent carryover from a brilliant collegiate career at Texas A&M to the NFL level. He started just eight games in two years with Cleveland, throwing as many interceptions – seven – as touchdowns.

He checked into rehab for undisclosed problems at the end of his rookie season but his conduct did not improve. In November 2015, Manziel was benched after a video emerged of him partying at a nightclub a month after his he was pulled over by police while arguing with his then-girlfriend. The Browns coach at the time, Mike Pettine, said: “I don’t think we anticipated that his problems, his issues, how deep-rooted they were, the extent of it.”

Manziel was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, but the punishment was never formally served after the Browns released him in the spring.

He reached a deal with the Dallas County district attorney’s office for the conditional dismissal of a domestic assault case last year, where he was accused of hitting and threatening his former girlfriend during a night out.

He told ESPN last year that he’s achieved sobriety on his own and was determined to resume his career.

“I refuse to let my entire life of sports from the age of four be squandered by partying,” Manziel said. “I just got sick of it. One day I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror and realized I could really help people in the position I’m in.

“I love sports, I love football and when you take something away from yourself you realize it the hard way. The happiness from doing it sober has been astronomical. Beyond my wildest imagination and once that continued other good things started happening in my life and it just clicked.”

