Cal wide receiver Nyan Boateng at the 2009 Cal Fan Appreciation Day at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California. |
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| No. 15 New York Giants | |
| Wide receiver | |
| Personal information | |
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| Date of birth: February 23, 1987 | |
| Place of birth: Ghana, West Africa | |
| Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | Weight: 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: California | |
| NFL Draft: 2010 / Round: Free Agent / Pick: | |
| Debuted in 2010 for the New York Giants | |
| Career history | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Nyan Boateng, (born February 23, 1987) is an American football wide receiver currently a member of the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League. He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played college football at the University of Florida later transferred to the California Golden Bears football.
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Boateng suffered a preseason ankle injury in August 2004 that forced him to miss his senior season of football at Abraham Lincoln High School. He was named to the U.S. Army All-American team as one of the top wide receivers in the country. As a junior, he led the team to an undefeated season while playing wide receiver, cornerback, and handling all of the Railsplitters' kicking, punting, and punt return duties. He also lettered in basketball at Lincoln, where he played with future NBA star Sebastian Telfair and was featured in Through the Fire, winning three consecutive New York City PSAL basketball championships. After his senior year, he went to Florida on a football scholarship.
At the end of his high school playing days he was ranked by Scout.com as the 10th-best wide receiver prospect in the country while Rivals.com ranked him 12th at his position.
Boateng was a highly touted and recruited player coming out of high school and during a high school all star game, made the announcement that he was choosing to go to Florida.[1] Appeared in the Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Iowa contests and caught 4 passes for 55 yards in the win over Mississippi State, including 2 for 28 yards also gained 50 yards on 5 carries against Alabama, including one for a 36 yard run. He made his collegiate debut by catching a 44 yard pass from classmate Josh Portis in the win over Kentucky and had one reception for 19 yards against Vanderbilt. After a modest sophomore year Boateng transferred to the University of California, Berkeley.[2]
Due to the rules around transferring, Boateng sat out the 2007 season, while attending classes at Cal.
Made a solid contribution in his first season in a Golden Bears' uniform, leading the club with 38 catches and 585 receiving yards (No. 18 Pac-10) for an average of 17.1 yards per catch ... also second on the team with Six touchdowns receiving and third with an average of 17.1 yards per reception ... had at least one catch in nine consecutive contests (games 2-10) and 11 of the team's final 12 outings ... posted a career-high-tying 8 catches three times (at Washington State, at Maryland, at USC) and a career-high 107 yards receiving on only two catches vs. UCLA ... also had three other games with over 50 yards receiving at Maryland (4-90), vs. Oregon (3-86) and vs. Arizona State (3-101) ... caught touchdown passes in back-to-back home games twice (vs. Colorado State and Arizona State; vs. UCLA and Oregon) ... two of his TD receptions were on flea-flickers; the first came vs. UCLA when QB Kevin Riley got the ball back from TB Jahvid Best and hit Boateng for a 70-yard TD, before corralling a 50-yard pass from WR Jeremy Ross at Oregon State for his six and final touchdown catch of the season ... also recorded two tackles.
Towards the end of the season, even with the team's passing game and struggles on offense, Boateng was becoming a team leader.[3] Boateng was instrumental in one of the key plays in the Golden Bears' season, catching a 53-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Riley on a flea flicker to break open a close game early in the 4th quarter in California's 41-20 win over UCLA.[4]
Boateng caught his first touchdown pass of the season in Cal's home opener against Maryland for 39 yards. In Cal's first away game of the season against Minnesota on September 19, he fractured his right foot. Boateng had surgery to insert a pin into the foot and was expected to be out for four to six weeks.
Made 15 receptions for 291 yards receiving and two touchdowns over 11 contests off the bench, missing two contests with a broken foot after suffering the injury in the third game of the campaign at Minnesota ... had touchdown receptions in the season-opener vs. Maryland and at Washington in the regular-season finale, connecting with Kevin Riley on both plays with a season-long 69-yard strike against the Terrapins and a 42-yard vs. the Huskies ... had two receptions in five different games (vs. Maryland, at Minnesota, at UCLA, at Arizona State, at Washington) with his 84 yards receiving against the Terrapins a season-high ... elected second-team preseason All-Pac-10 by Phil Steele.
Boateng went undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft. He participated in a rookie minicamp with the New York Giants in May, but was not offered a contract.[5] He was later signed by the Giants in August who waived wide receiver Adam Jennings to make room on their roster.[6]
Boateng was also a member of the Arena Football Team Chicago Rush, having signed a contract on October 8, 2010. He was a league exemption during his stint with the New York Giants after being signed to the practice squad on Nov 6, 2010. He then returned to the Rush on December 20,2010 after being released by the Giants.
Boateng was born in Ghana and moved to the United States when he was eight years old. He is majoring in mass communications, and speaks three languages - English, French and Twi, spoken in Ghana by six million people. His older brother, Dominic Osei, played basketball for Fordham University and cousins, Derick Boateng,Kevin Prince Boateng competed innn the FIFA World Cup for Ghana.[7]