Visanthe Shiancoe

Visanthe Shiancoe (born June 18, 1980) is an American football tight end. He is currently a free agent.. After playing college football for Morgan State, he was drafted by the New York Giants in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played for the Giants for four seasons from 2003 to 2006 and the Minnesota Vikings for five seasons from 2007 to 2011.

Early years
Shiancoe played high school football for Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, gaining all-county honors competing at wide receiver, quarterback, and tight end.

College career
Shiancoe enjoyed a successful college football career at Morgan State University, playing in 30 games and receiving 52 passes for 1,001 yards. His senior year proved to be noteworthy, garnering both All-American Dream Team and All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference 1st-team honors from the NFL Draft Report.

New York Giants
Shiancoe was drafted in the third round (91st overall) in the 2003 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Shiancoe played the first four years of his professional career with the New York Giants compiling 35 receptions for 253 yards and three touchdowns, predominantly in a backup role behind Jeremy Shockey.

Minnesota Vikings
Shiancoe signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2007. He compiled 208 receptions for 2,424 yards and 24 touchdowns in his five seasons as a Viking, in regular season games. He played in 80 games, of which he started in 66. He led the NFC tight ends with seven touchdowns in 2008 and ranked third by a tight end in the NFL. In 2009 he caught 11 touchdowns as one of Brett Favre's favorite targets in the red zone. In 2010, Shiancoe only caught two touchdowns. Shiancoe's numbers dropped again in 2011 as he recorded 36 receptions and caught three touchdowns.

New England Patriots
Shiancoe agreed to a one-year deal with the New England Patriots on July 24, 2012, reportedly worth $1.2 million. He was activated on November 11, 2012 after an injury of Aaron Hernandez and a suspension of Brandon Bolden. On December 11, 2012, he was released.

Television appearances
Shiancoe was a contestant on NBC's Minute to Win It on September 8, 2010, playing to win money for the National Kidney Foundation. When he could not perform the card trick, where he had to blow off a deck of 53 playing cards with one joker at the bottom remaining on the bottle in a minute, he successfully performed the same trick on NFL Network again in less than 30 seconds, only to realize that the final Joker card was glued on.

Towel Incident
Fox aired a post game segment following a victory over the Detroit Lions in 2008. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf was presenting the game ball to coach Brad Childress' son, Andrew, who had enlisted in the United States Marine Corps the day before. In the background, Shiancoe was shown unclothed for a moment before covering himself with a towel. According to the NFL and Fox Sports, the image lasted a fifth of a second. Fox Sports apologized for airing the image. Through his agent, Shiancoe said he was embarrassed by the unintentional incident.

Personal
According to his official website, Shiancoe, resides in Prince George's County, but was born in Birmingham, England, in 1980, to a Liberian mother and a Ghanaian father. He moved to Silver Spring, Maryland as an infant. His first name, pronounced "Vi-san-th," is not of African origin but from the nation of India, and furthermore, that in India it is pronounced "Vi-san-tay". Shiancoe has considered opening a Liberian themed restaurant in the U.S., and he plans to become involved in causes in his mother's home country of Liberia.