Here’s my first interaction with Mario Manningham on this morning’s conference call. It did not go well.
Me: Did you feel like you had to sell yourself more than maybe other players did when you came in here and other places for an interview because of …
Mario: I can’t hear you. You sound so far away.
Me: I’m sorry. Did you feel like you had to sell yourself more than maybe other players would have because of your past when you came in for an interview?
Mario: I can’t hear you, what’d you say?
Me: (Clears throat) Do you feel like you had to sell yourself to the Giants or other teams you met with because of your past?
Mario: I can’t hear you, you sound so far away.
Me: That’s fine. I’ll ask you at minicamp.
Thanks, by the way, to RV from the DN who jumped in and asked my question for me. Eventually Mario gave a somewhat decent answer, probably one of the most coherent of the interview.
"I don't think I had to sell myself, I just had to be myself," he said.
Comments (6)
The wonderlic score bothers me more than the marijuana thing. I know the test is not the perfect thing to measure someone with, but you would think double digits would be achievable.
You and the rest of the media are retards. You pick on a kid that you hear things about. I guess the world champions Giants dont know what they are doing right? He plays football, he's not the presidents speech writer. Get your heads out of your asses
Maybe he IS the Presidents speech writer!
Have you heard that guy speak?
Got me there...I meant the President in general, not this one
The usual media jump on the bandwagon BS, the Giants have taken some chances before on bad character and have won the battle. If Manningham turns the lights on and walks the straight and narrow the Giants will have a steal, if he doesn't so be it, there is enough depth to make up for the pick. As to the Media bozo's the real question will be if the Jets wasted a #1 on a over hyped pick. This may be the real issue at the end of the day. No one is talking about that, the Giants will be fine and will once again be in the hunt, the Jets will be a huge payroll with alot of pieces that don't seem to fit, as they still have no QB in a division that requires a leadership QB. Good luck!
The 6 on the Wonderlic, I think, will be more of a factor in fans' joke-making than it will in Manningham's football playing. Vince Young's 6 mattered more because of the position. It might hurt on stuff like hot reads and audibles, but I'm assuming Manningham's not a drooling vegetable (except when he's high). If memory serves, Shockey had an 11 and Corey Webster had a 7. Plus Manningham's a very good route runner and he can make moves after the catch. What I don't like is that he's not as explosive as his size would indicate. He ran a 4.45 at his pro day, which is closer to his game speed than the 4.60 at the combine. But still, the guy weighs less than Sinorice and he's not a burner. He's also not a "natural pass catcher." He lets the ball get into his body, which leads to pad deflections and drops when hit. The NFL.com draft tracker thing said that he caught just 72 of the 142 (50.7%) passes thrown to him last year. That catch percentage, in college, is comparable to Tim Carter's in the NFL.