Mario Cashmere Manningham (born May 25, 1986) is an American football wide receiver who currently plays for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan.

College career

In 2005, as a freshman, Manningham had 27 receptions for 433 yards and six touchdowns, including the game-winning catch as time expired in the game against Penn State, handing the Lions their only loss that season.

Manningham finished 2006 with a total 38 receptions 703 yards and nine touchdowns. He was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week two weeks in a row, first against Notre Dame and then against Wisconsin.

Manningham had a total of 72 receptions for 1,174 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2007.

After the 2007 season, Manningham opted to forgo (forget, not do) his eligibility for his senior year in 2008 and entered the NFL Draft. He finished his career at Michigan with 137 receptions for 2,310 yards and 27 touchdowns.  Those marks (in order) placed him ninth, fifth, and fourth in school history.

Professional career

New York Giants
Manningham was selected in the third round (95th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft by the New York Giants.

2008 season
During rookie training camp, Manningham said that he looked forward to playing with fellow former Michigan Wolverine Amani Toomer, who was with New York at the time. Manningham signed a four-year deal worth up to $2.3 million as a rookie.

2009 season
Manningham has been working on his punt return abilities and competed for the punt returner spot in 2009.

Manningham kicked off the 2009 NFL season by catching three passes for 58 yards and a touchdown en route to the Giants' 23-17 win over the Washington Redskins. He followed this up by catching 10 passes for 150 yards and a juggling sliding catch for a touchdown in the Giants' 33-31 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Manningham became the starting wide receiver opposite Steve Smith after fellow receiver Domenik Hixon was injured in a Week 2 game against the Dallas Cowboys.

2011 season
Manningham let Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks take much of his playing time, and Manningham was only the #3 wideout in 2011.

On February 5, 2012, Manningham made a catch in the fourth quarter of Superbowl XLVI to set up the win against the Patriots.  Trailing by 2 points with 3 minutes 46 seconds remaining, the Giants started the winning drive.  Eli Manning lofted a long pass down the left sideline to Mario Manningham, who kept his feet inbounds by inches with two defenders around him. The Giants went on to beat the New England Patriots 21-17. Manningham ended the game with 5 catches for 73 yards. Most people think that he will not return to the Giants.

Legal issues

Manningham  had reportedly been removed from "multiple teams'" draft boards due to alleged marijuana use in college. Mario denied testing positive at first, then sent a letter to all 32 teams saying he lied. Manningham claimed he failed two drug tests. Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Manningham scored a 6 out of 50 on the Wonderlic exam. This along with several other problems caused his draft value to drop.

References

 "Mario Manningham: His best and worst moments". 
 "Manningham Big Ten Player of the Week - Again ".
 "Manningham faces surgery".
 "Michigan survives Ball State scare to keep perfect season alive". ESPN. Associated Press. Retrieved 2011-09-24. 
 "ESPN Profile: Mario Manningham".
 "Giants select talented but troubled WR Mario Manningham in third round".

1986 births
Living people
American football wide receivers
New York Giants players
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Ohio