Ex-Wolverine Mario Manningham flashes top-level skills
Mario Manningham has given people a lot to talk about with all his off the field problems.
On the field with the New York Giants for the first time Friday, the troubled third-round draft pick from Michigan showed flashes of why he might have been one of the biggest steals in the NFL draft.
Manningham caught a short pass in the morning workout, deked a defender, spun past another and jogged down the field with a flair that raised eyebrows at the Giants' minicamp for rookie and free agents.
"I am very excited," Manningham said between workouts at Giants Stadium. "There is no better situation that I could be in right now coming in and playing for the Super Bowl champs. It is fun out there, I get to meet new people and everything. I get to play with great players. They aren't here yet, but I get to play with great players."
The Giants are excited having Manningham, although they realize there is a reason he fell to the third round in last month's draft.
In a letter to NFL executives, he admitted that he had failed two drug tests while at Michigan. That came on the heels of an arrest a year ago after police found a prescription pain killer and a controlled substance in a car in which he was riding with two other men.
Before the Giants took the field Friday, Manningham had a long talk with coach Tom Coughlin.
While neither disclosed what was said, it's obvious that the Giants have told the receiver he needs to be a model citizen.
"It happened, it is in the past, I am not really worried about it right now," Manningham said. "I am just trying to make the team and trying to bring an impact to my team right now."
Manningham posted terrific numbers in his three seasons with the Wolverines, catching 137 passes for 2,310 yards and 27 touchdowns.
His speed and elusiveness should make him a big-play threat, something that only Plaxico Burress provided last season.
The only adjustment he might have to make is getting used to the speed of the game in the NFL.
His confidence in not an issue.
"If it is time for a receiver to get the ball, yeah I want the ball, that is what I do," Manningham said. "Like I told you, I want to make plays. I am not going to shy away. That is what I have been doing."
Manningham doesn't think that slipping to the third round will motivate him more.
"Whether I went first round or third round or sixth round, I am always motivated," he said. "I am a football player. When you are so used to doing something, that is what you do. You play football. I am motivated anyway whether I would have been a free agent, a first rounder, or wherever. I am pretty motivated."
Being a rookie, Manningham made mistakes, although no glaring ones.
"This is my first day," he said. "You know I am going to make mistakes. You are not just going in on the first day and just get it Johnny on the dot. That is just how it is. Every practice I am going to get better."
Notes: Linebackers Bryan Kehl and Jonathan Goff, the fourth- and fifth-round draft picks, respectively, intercepted passes by Andre Woodson, the sixth-round choice from Kentucky. ... The minicamp caused Goff to miss his graduation from Vanderbilt. His mother, Gwendolyn, and brother, Jason, attended the ceremony in Nashville, Tenn., and planned to pick up his diploma. Goff said his mother and brother had not seen each other in a couple of months, so they made the trip even though he would not be there. ... First-round draft pick S Kenny Phillips wore No. 21 in honor of recently slain Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor, another Miami product. Tiki Barber was the last Giants to wear No. 21. ... Newark resident Amir Pinnix, a running back from Minnesota, is getting a tryout this weekend.
