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Ricky Manning
Ricky Manning Jr in 2007
Ricky Manning Jr. at the Bears 2007 Training Camp
No. 24, 27     
Cornerback
Personal information
Date of birth: (1980-11-18) November 18, 1980 (age 43)
Place of birth: Fresno, California
Career information
College: UCLA
NFL Draft: 2003 / Round: 3 / Pick: 82
No regular season or postseason appearances
Career history
* Carolina Panthers ( 2003 2005)
Career highlights and awards
Total tackles     268
Sacks     4.0
Forced fumbles     4
Fumble recoveries     5
Interceptions     14
Defensive touchdowns     3
Stats at NFL.com

Richard "Ricky" Manning Jr. (born November 18, 1980) is a former American football cornerback and a former High School Football Coach in Fresno, California. He played college football at UCLA and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft. Along with the Panthers he also played for the Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, and the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League

Early years[]

Manning played high school football at Edison High School in Fresno.[1]

College career[]

Manning started 45 consecutive games for UCLA, which ranks as the second longest streak in school history. His 13 interceptions tie him for seventh all-time among Bruin players. In addition, he made first-team All-Pac-10 for his last three years.

Professional career[]

Carolina Panthers[]

Manning was taken in the third round (82nd overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft by Carolina. His first pick came in only his second game, as he intercepted Atlanta Falcons quarterback Doug Johnson. With injuries to the secondary, Manning eventually took over a starting role. His first interception to be returned for a touchdown came against the New York Giants. But he will be forever remembered by Panther fans for his performance during the 2003-04 NFL playoffs. In the NFC Divisional game against the St. Louis Rams, Manning's timely interception of Marc Bulger set up the game-winning touchdown to propel the Panthers into the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles. There, Manning made a permanent mark on Panther history by intercepting Donovan McNabb three times en route to the Panthers' victory. Manning became the first rookie to win Defensive Player of the Week honors twice in the same postseason. As of 2017's NFL off-season, Manning's 4 postseason interceptions in 2003 remain franchise records for both a career and single season, as do his 3 interceptions in the Philadelphia game.

During the Panthers' injury-riddled 2004 season, Manning helped anchor a defense that ranked first in the league in interceptions. Against the Rams, Manning and teammate Dan Morgan picked off two passes each, the first game where a pair of teammates had a pair of interceptions in three years.

Chicago Bears[]

Ricky became a restricted free agent in the following offseason, and the Bears signed him to an offer sheet on April 21. The Panthers declined to match Chicago's offer, and received a third round pick from the Bears in the 2006 NFL Draft. Manning intercepted five passes during the 2006 season. He intercepted two passes from Matt Hasselbeck, and later returned an interception for a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings during week thirteen. He also had an interception during the Divisional Playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks.[2]

Manning saw minimal playtime during the 2007 season, and was used at nickelback. He later worked with the team's third string defense, and tutored Danieal Manning, who would eventually replace him as the team's nickelback.[3][4] On August 26, 2008, the Chicago Bears released Ricky after a two-year stint.[5][6]

St. Louis Rams[]

On August 31, 2008, Manning agreed to terms with the St. Louis Rams. He officially signed the following day. Then on October 14, 2008, Manning was placed on injured reserve after injuring his foot in a game against the Washington Redskins.

Oakland Raiders[]

Manning signed with the Oakland Raiders on August 15, 2009 after the team released tight end John Paul Foschi. Manning was released on August 24.

Legal troubles[]

In 2002 Manning was convicted of assault as a result of a fight with cheerleaders Brian Herbert and Seth Spiker outside a Westwood bar. Originally charged with two counts of felony assault, Manning pleaded not guilty to one count and the other count was dismissed.[7] He received probation.

On April 23, 2006, Manning attacked Soroush Sabzi,[8] in a Denny's restaurant after first teasing him for working on a laptop computer.[9] He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. (Two days before the incident, the Bears had signed Manning to $21 million offer sheet. In light of the assault charge, the Panthers declined to match Chicago's offer and Manning signed with the Bears.)

Facing up to four years in prison, Manning pleaded no contest in September 2006 to felony assault in exchange for another probation deal. Later, Manning proclaimed his innocence. He acknowledged having words with the victim then pushing him in the head—but after that, according to him, his former UCLA teammates did the damage. "Yeah, I did it" explained Manning (AP report). "If I don't plea to this I have to go through trial. We're in season now. Then I'd have to put it in the hands of a jury. There are tons of things that can happen with a jury... I just can't risk that."

The NFL suspended him for one game for this, his second felony assault conviction.[10]

Hometown Coaching[]

In 2012 Manning was hired to coach his high school alma mater's varsity football team. He was the Head Coach of the Edison High Tigers, in Fresno, California, for just one year. From there Manning went on to coach 2 seasons at Fresno City College as defensive backs and special teams coach before going back to school at Fresno State and working as a graduate assistant.[11]

Seattle Seahawks[]

In 2016 Manning was hired as an Assistant Coach with the Seattle Seahawks.[12] It was announced in February 2018, that Manning would not return to the Seahawks for the 2018 season.[13]

NFL statistics[]

Year Team GP COMB TOTAL AST SACK FF FR FR YDS INT IR YDS AVG IR LNG TD PD
2003 CAR 16 57 50 7 0.0 2 1 0 3 33 11 27 1 7
2004 CAR 16 66 54 12 0.0 0 0 0 4 46 12 30 0 9
2005 CAR 16 41 33 8 0.0 1 3 0 2 20 10 10 0 6
2006 CHI 15 53 42 11 2.0 1 0 0 5 113 23 54 1 10
2007 CHI 16 44 33 11 1.0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2008 STL 5 7 6 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career 84 268 218 50 4.0 4 5 0 14 212 15 54 2 33

[14]

References[]

  1. Fontana, Cyndee. "Patriotic Exercise Fresno coach cheers his former player in defeat"[dead link], The Fresno Bee, February 2, 2004. Accessed November 15, 2007. "It's the ring that eluded Ricky Manning Jr. in 1998, when his Edison High School Tigers lost to Sanger in the championship game."
  2. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/gamelog?playerId=4540
  3. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4940
  4. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/ChalkTalkStory.asp?story_id=4936
  5. "Bears release veteran cornerback Ricky Manning Jr.", ChicagoBears.com, August 26, 2008. Accessed August 26, 2008.
  6. "Bears release Ricky Manning Jr.", Chicago Sun-Times, August 26, 2008. Accessed August 26, 2008.
  7. "Archived copy". http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=24264.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 12, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061012005744/http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=37279. Retrieved May 18, 2007.
  9. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2419713
  10. "Ricky Manning Jr. NFL Transactions: Signings, Trades & more". https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/ricky-manning-jr-player-transactions. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  11. "Edison High alum Ricky Manning Jr. heads back to NFL as Seahawks assistant". https://www.fresnobee.com/sports/article63477592.html. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  12. "Edison High alum Ricky Manning Jr. heads back to NFL as Seahawks assistant". https://www.fresnobee.com/sports/article63477592.html. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  13. "Ricky Manning Jr. becomes 8th assistant to leave Seahawks' staff". https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/2018/02/08/ricky-manning-jr-becomes-8th-assistant-to-leave-seahawks-staff/. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  14. "Ricky Manning Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/4540/ricky-manning. Retrieved December 29, 2014.

External links[]

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