Mario Manningham

Mario Cashmere Manningham (born May 25, 1986) is an American football wide receiver 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. After receiving few opportunities in his rookie year, Manningham caught 18 touchdown passes the following three seasons, as well as three postseason touchdowns during the Giants' 2011-12 playoff run. Manningham won Super Bowl XLVI with the Giants, in which he caught a crucial 38-yard pass with under four minutes remaining to set up the Giants' game-winning drive.

He played college football at Michigan.

College career
In 2005, as a freshman, Manningham recorded 27 receptions for 433 yards and six touchdowns, including the game-winning catch as time expired in the game against Penn State, handing the Nittany 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. During the sixth game of the season against Michigan State, Manningham injured his knee and underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on October 10. Manningham made his first game appearance after the injury as a reserve wide receiver on November 4 against Ball State.

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

After the 2007 season, Manningham opted to forgo 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 placed him ninth, fifth, and fourth, respectively, in school history.

Pre-draft
Manningham had reportedly been removed from "multiple teams'" draft boards due to alleged marijuana use in college. Mario denied testing positive initially, then sent a letter to all 32 teams admitting he lied. Manningham claims he failed two drug tests at Michigan. 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.

2008 season
Manningham was selected in the third round (95th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. During rookie training camp, Manningham noted that he looked forward to playing with fellow former Michigan Wolverine Amani Toomer. Manningham signed a four-year deal worth up to $2.3 million. Manningham made his first reception on October 5, 2008 in a game against the Seattle Seahawks which the Giants won by a score of 44-6.

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 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
On February 5, 2012, Manningham made a catch in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLVI to setup 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.

San Francisco 49ers
Manningham signed a two-year, $7.375 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers on March 22, 2012. On December 23, 2012, he tore his ACL and PCL in his left knee against division rival, the Seattle Seahawks. They lost 42-13. The next day, the 49ers stated that Manningham would be out for the season.