Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Mario Manningham

Tag: Former Michigan Athlete of the Week

12Jan 2012
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Mario Manningham

It’s been a rough year for Mario Manningham, especially when considering his lofty preseason expectations. Manningham appeared in only 12 games and battled through a concussion and a lingering knee injury while putting up his worst statistical performance since his 2008 rookie season. But that now seems like the distant past after the Giants’ 24-2 NFC Wild Card game victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Manningham caught four passes for 68 yards in the contest, including a game-clinching touchdown grab midway through the fourth quarter. Super Mario looked impressive on the play (watch it here), beating two defensive backs for the 27 yard catch up the middle.
“The fact that Mario made plays was big,” said coach Tom Coughlin. That was something that we needed to have happen and I am certainly glad it did. When you look at tape of some of these games and you look at previous games of the teams that we are playing, you see [number] 82 making catches and running behind guys, and that’s a good thing”

Honorable Mention: Steelers’ starting free safety Ryan Clark nearly died due to a blood condition the last time he played at Mile High Stadium, so being an upstanding guy, Ryan Mundy kindly stepped into his role. Mundy played 60 minutes of good football, recording five tackles and forcing two fumbles, one of which was recovered by LaMarr Woodley. But unfortunately for Mundy, the game lasted 60 minutes and 11 seconds, and he was caught out of position on the first play of overtime, resulting in an 80-yard touchdown and the quickest end to overtime in NFL history. To be fair, it seemed as if the defensive game plan called for Mundy to stay close to the line of scrimmage, essentially daring Tebow to throw the ball, and Tebow surprisingly rose to the challenge. But still . . .
Miscellaneous: Donovan Warren joins former teammate, Perry Dorrestein, and tight ends coach Mike DeBord in Chicago with the Bears. Travelin’ man Martell Webb signed with the Arizona Cardinals. Adrian Arrington caught his third pass of the season in the Saints’ victory over…well, you know.
5Jan 2012
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Tom Brady

Sexy. And Gisele Bundchen ain’t too bad, either.
Tom Brady threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday in the Patriots’ 49-21 victory over the Buffalo Bills to secure home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Brady finished the regular season with 5,235 passing yards, good for second most in NFL history behind Drew Brees’ 2011 total of 5,486. After a first-round bye, Brady and the Patriots will face the winner of the Texans-Bengals game; his chances of getting another Super Bowl ring currently stand at 4/1 according to Vegas.
Honorable Mention: Jay Feely hit another game winning field goal as the Cardinals defeated the Seahawks, 23-20, in overtime. Feely had a rough start to the season, going 6-for-11 on field goal attempts before getting on track and finishing 19-for-24 (79.2%).
Miscellaneous: Ryan Mundy will step in as the starting free safety and LaMarr Woodly will likely return to the starting lineup when the Steelers visit Denver during Sunday’s wild-card game. Jake Long and Steve Hutchinson were placed on the Injured Reserve. New Jaguar Morgan Trent picked off a pass for the second straight week.
30Dec 2011
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Jeff Backus

Jeff Backus [illegally] kicks some Jared Allen ass
Left tackle Jeff Backus has started every Detroit Lions’ game since the team drafted him with the 18th overall pick in 2001. That’s eleven straight years and 175 consecutive games without missing a start, good for the longest streak in franchise history. All has not been sunny for Backus, however, as the Lions have been the laughing stock of the NFL over that time, with fans repeatedly calling for him to be replaced. I’m uncertain as to why Backus developed into everyone’s favorite scapegoat for the Lions’ woes, but it’s nice to see this former Michigan athlete finally get a reprieve from ugly losses and fan criticisms.
Against the Chargers on Christmas Eve, the Lions clinched their first playoff birth since 1999 and Backus played well: he didn’t give up a single sack and paved the way for two third down conversions on third and short. “Detroit Lions offensive tackle Jeff Backus dominant against the San Diego Chargers,” read an Mlive headline after the game while Pro Football Focus wrote,”Jeff Backus has really put together some nice performances as of late. In the last five games, he has graded out as an 8.7 while only allowing one quarterback sack and one quarterback hit.” After a challenging eleven year start to his NFL career, hopefully this is the sign of better things to come for Backus and his Lions.
Honorable Mention: Brady again threw for 300 + yards last week as he lead the Patriots to their 12th victory of the season by overcoming a 17 point first half deficit to defeat the Dolphins, 27-24. Although on pace for much of the year, Tom Brady won’t beak Dan Marino’s 1984 single-season passing record of 5,084 yards because Drew Brees beat him to it, breaking the record on Monday Night Football. But with only 190 yards separating Brady and Brees, it’s still possible for Brady to end this season with the record. Saints coach Sean Payton has a history of resting his starters in the second half of the final regular season game and may do so again with the Division already sewn up and nothing to gain if the 49ers take care of the lowly Rams as is expected.
Miscellaneous: Braylon Edwards caught a nine yard pass on Sunday but was cut by the 49ers after the game. Morgan Trent, now with Jacksonville, recorded his second career interception last week to go along with four tackles. Jake Long returned from his biceps injury against the Patriots but left the game after re-aggravating it. Martell Webb was cut from Tampa Bay’s practice squad. Jake Long, Tom Brady and Charles Woodson were named starters for the 2012 Pro Bowl.
21Dec 2011
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Brandon Graham

“Great! Now that I’m hurt, I won’t have to wear green and white”
– Brandon Graham

After recording only one tackle last Sunday, Brandon Graham is being selected as the Former Michigan Athlete of the Week for mostly symbolic reasons. Graham started six of the 13 games in which he played last season, recording 13 tackles, one sack and two forced fumbles. That was until week 14 against the Cowboys when Graham suffered a torn ACL and subsequently underwent microfracture surgery, which kept him on the Injured Reserve until late October of this year. Consistent with an injury of that severity, Graham’s transition back to playing at a high level has not been seamless. And Philadelphia fans don’t like that.

As the 13th overall selection in the 2010 draft, Graham admits that he has not yet lived up to expectations. But Eagles fans are not a patient bunch and are directing some heat towards Graham, “chasing him off of Twitter” and bemoaning that his draft spot wasn’t used to instead select Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who, to his credit, has performed very well. “That’s why it’s tough for me, because I gotta see stuff like that,” said Graham, “and I know I’m like, I could be that.’ I know what I can do. Just to see Pierre-Paul is balling, doing his thing, it’s tough on me…I don’t even worry about it because I’ve got three years and I’ve got a chance to prove myself and they know what I can do.” Graham continues to work hard and tweet. His Eagles hold a 6-8 record yet still have an outside chance of making the playoffs by winning the unimpressive NFC East.

Honorable Mention: Tom Brady threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions as the Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos and Tim “he just wins games” Tebow by a score of 41-23. Brady added a touchdown on the ground which was followed by an emphatic spike as New England improved to an 11-3 record. Brady has thrown for 4,593 yards this season and is on pace to break Dan Marion’s single-season passing record of 5,084 yards. That’s if Drew Brees, who’s thrown for 4,780 yards, doesn’t beat him to it. But Brees’ season total through the air may be adversely impacted by Coach Sean Payton, who unlike Belichick, has shown a tendency to rest his star players on the final week of the season if his team’s playoff seeding has already been determined. Go Brady.

Miscellaneous: Jake Long sat out against the Bills, which broke his 60 game start streak. Morgan Trent now plays for Jacksonville and saw action last week. Jay Feely hit a game winning field goal on Sunday against the Browns.

14Dec 2011
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Tom Brady

“STOP HITTING ON GISELE!” – Tom Brady
Brady threw for 357 yards and three touchdowns with one interception as his Patriots defeated the Redskins, 34-27, on Sunday. After throwing the interception, Brady joined in a profanity-filled shouting match with offensive coordinator Bill O’ Brien (watch it here). Maybe the two were merely venting their frustrations with New England’s awful defense because the passing game appears to be the least of their worries. Brady has thrown for 4,273 yards through 13 games and is on pace to break Dan Marino’s 1984 single-season passing record of 5,084 yards if Drew Brees doesn’t beat him to it. This Sunday, Brady will go head-to-head with quarterback media darling Tim “he just wins games” Tebow.
Honorable Mention: Mario Manningham caught a 47-yard touchdown pass in the Giants 37-34 win over the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, but the reception was due to a blown coverage, and he later dropped what would have been the game-winning touchdown pass. So Honorable Mention goes to Charles Woodson this week, who recorded six tackles, two pass defenses and an interception, which puts him in a tie with Eric Weddle and Kyle Arrington for most INTs this season (7). His Super Bowl defending Packers remain undefeated (13-0) after a 46-13 rout of Woodson’s former team, the Oakland Raiders.
Miscellaneous: Jake Long left the Miami-Philadelphia game with a lower back injury in the first quarter. The Dolphins gave up a franchise-tying nine sacks in his absence, and Coach Tony Sparano was fired after the game. Long’s status for next week against the Bills is uncertain, which may end his 60 game start streak.
Martell Webb signed with the Tampa Bay practice squad late last week.