Mohamed Sanu

Mohamed Sanu

Sanu with the Bengals in 2012.
No. 12     Cincinnati Bengals
Wide Receiver
Personal information
Date of birth: (1989-08-23) August 23, 1989
Place of birth: Sayreville, New Jersey
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Weight: 210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school: Monmouth Junction (NJ) South Brunswick
College: Rutgers
NFL Draft: 2012 / Round: 3 / Pick: 83
Debuted in 2012 for the Cincinnati Bengals
Career history
Cincinnati Bengals (2012–present)
Roster status: Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 9, 2013
Receptions 47 Receiving yards 470 Receiving average 10.0 Receiving TDs 4 Stats at NFL.com

Mohamed Sanu (born August 22, 1989) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals. Sanu played college football at Rutgers. He was selected by the Bengals in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

Early life

Originally from Sayreville, New Jersey,Sanu was born to a Muslim family and also lived in his parents' native Sierra Leone as a child.^[1] Sanu returned to New Jersey, where he eventually starred at South Brunswick High School as a triple option quarterback before enrolling at Rutgers University in 2009. In his final season at South Brunswick High School, Sanu led the Vikings to their first playoff berth in nearly 40 years, including three rushing touchdowns of at least 80 yards against Edison High School.^[2] He was ruled ineligible to play at South Brunswick High School during his senior year, due to exceeding NJSIAA's age-restriction; he graduated high school six months early and enrolled at Rutgers University in January 2009.^[3]

College career

As a true freshman he had 51 receptions for 639 yards and 3 touchdowns, and ran 62 times for 346 yards and 5 touchdowns out of the Wildcat formation. Sanu was the first ever true freshman to start at wide receiver for Rutgers under coach Greg Schiano, and won Most Valuable Player honors at the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl. In 2010, Sanu was a consensus preseason All-Big East wide receiver. In 2011 against North Carolina he tied a Big East record with 13 receptions. The next week he broke his own record by catching 16 passes. In 2011, Sanu broke the Big East single-season reception record with 115 receptions for 1,206 yards, a record previously held by Larry Fitzgerald.

In his three seasons at Rutgers, Sanu caught 210 passes for 2,263 yards, scored 19 touchdowns, and gained 3,019 all-purpose yards. He also completed 8 of 18 passes for 207 yards and four touchdowns.

Professional career

Mohamed Sanu in 2013

Cincinnati Bengals

During the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft, Sanu received a prank phone call from somebody pretending to be Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown, informing him that the Bengals were going to use their 27th overall pick on him.^[4] The following day, Sanu received a phone call from the real Mike Brown, who informed him they would be drafting him in the 3rd round with the 83rd overall pick.

On September 23, 2012, against the Washington Redskins, Sanu came in as the wildcat quarterback out of a shotgun formation for the Bengals on the first play from scrimmage of the game, and threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Green, giving Sanu his first touchdown pass before his first NFL reception. The pass also gave Sanu a perfect 158.3 passer rating for the game. He was also the first Bengals wide receiver ever to throw a touchdown pass.^{[citation needed]} Sanu had his first touchdown catch during Week 10 against the New York Giants. He finished the game with 4 receptions for 47 yards.

On November 30, 2012, it was announced that Sanu had what is likely season ending surgery to repair a stress fracture.^[5][6]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NFL.com • ESPN • Pro-Football-Reference