Nyan Boateng

Nyan Boateng

Cal wide receiver Nyan Boateng at the 2009 Cal Fan Appreciation Day at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California.
No. 18 Free agent
Position: Wide receiver
Personal information
Date of birth: February 23, 1987
Place of birth: Brooklyn, NY
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight: 208 lb (94 kg)
Career information
College: California Golden Bears
Undrafted: 2009
Career history
Career highlights and awards

Nyan Boateng, (born Feb 23, 1987) is an American football wide receiver who is a currently a free agent. He was signed by the NY Giants as an free agent in 2009. Boateng has also been a member of the New England Patriots. He played college football for the University of Florida, and was a member of two BCS National Championship teams. He later transferred to UC Berkeley.

High school

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, Boateng was regarded arguably the best two sports athlete ever to come out of New York City and the first New York state player ever to accept a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley.

At the end of his high school playing days he was ranked by Scout.com as the 5th-best wide receiver prospect in the country while Rivals.com ranked him 9th at his position.

College

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 University of Florida. Boateng received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played wide receiver for coach Urban Meyer's team.[1]

California

Boateng lines up during Cal's 2009 game versus Eastern Washington
Boateng lines up against Eastern Washington in September 2009

Boateng made a solid contribution in his first season in a Golden Bears' uniform, leading the club with 58 catches and 885 receiving yards (No. 10 Pac-10) for an average of 17.1 yards per catch ... also second on the team with 9 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 (4-190), 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.[2] 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.[3]

2009

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.

He 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.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Pre-draft measureables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20 ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP Wonderlic
6-2 * 206 * 4.52 1.47 * 2.60 * 4.25 ** 6.81 ** 43" * 8'07" * 16 * 30 *
*At NFL Combine **At Cal Pro Day

New York Giants

Boateng at New York Giants training camp

Boateng was signed by the New York Giants on August 6, 2009 deal worth 6.9m.[4] During rookie training camp, Boateng noted that he looked forward to playing with former Michigan Wolverine Amani Toomer.[5] Boateng made his first reception on October 5, 2009 in a game against the Seattle Seahawks which the Giants won by a score of 44-6.

Personal

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 Boateng, played basketball for Fordham University and cousins, Derek Boateng and Kevin-Prince Boateng competed in the FIFA World Cup for Ghana, and Jerome Boateng for Germany.

References

External links