UBC football star turning heads in lead up to NFL draft
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
"Humble beginnings. I was born and raised there until the age of 10 and then migrated with my siblings here to this great city of Vancouver, Canada," Manu said in an interview with CTV News.
Blessed with a rare combination of size and agility, even by National Football League standards, Manu has drawn the interest of several teams ahead of next weekend's NFL draft.
Sixteen teams showed up to see him workout at UBC's pro day, where he ran a 5.03-second 40-yard dash and completed 23 bench-press reps of 225 pounds.
Several other clubs hosted Manu on official team visits, including the New York Giants, New England Patriots, and the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
"I got to see Andy Reid, and he's kind of a character," Manu said about meeting the Chiefs head coach.
He arrived on campus at UBC when he was just 16 years old and credits the Thunderbirds coaching staff with helping him grow as a person and develop into an NFL prospect.
"Coach (Blake) Nill, he's like a father figure to me. And even my positional coach, Dan Dorazio. They're great guys," he said. "I cherish the six years that I've been here. It's definitely something I'll always remember and tell my kids in the future."
Manu lived with his aunt in Pitt Meadows and his parents still live in Tonga.
They've never seen him play football, which is something he hopes to rectify if he makes it onto an NFL field.
As a prospect, he is considered a bit of a project and is likely to be selected in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft.
"When you have 16 teams that came up to his pro day, and another 11 that brought him in for visits, and even more than that who are having private workouts with him, everybody knows who this kid is now, and they all know that there is scary potential there," said TSN NFL insider Farhan Lalji.
In part because he has only played against Canadian competition at the USports level, Lalji suspects Manu may start his NFL career on a team's practice roster.
"But I don't think it's going to take long until we see this guy in the National Football League," Lalji said. "It's not a question of if, but when."
Just a few months ago, Manu and his Thunderbird teammates beat the Alberta Golden Bears on a last-second touchdown to win the Hardy Cup.
A few months down the road, he could find himself competing for a more famous piece of football hardware: the NFL's Vince Lombardi Trophy.
"I'm ready for it. If that happens to come my way in my first year, I'll attack it the same way I approached the Canada West championship here, I'll be well-prepared for it and it will be really exciting," Manu said.
He has a chance to take the first step on that journey at next weekend's draft.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Dangerous brew: Ocean heat and La Nina combo likely mean more Atlantic hurricanes this summer
Get ready for what nearly all the experts think will be one of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, thanks to unprecedented ocean heat and a brewing La Nina.
Was this the bug that stung you? Wasp sightings revive murder-hornet concerns; no detections confirmed
As temperatures rise out of a mild El Nino winter, Canada's buggy season is already upon us again, and this year, the bugs are looking especially big.
New bill would let Canadians to pass citizenship rights down to children born abroad
A new government bill tabled in the House of Commons on Thursday would allow Canadians to pass citizenship rights down to their children born outside the country — a move that would add an unknown number of new citizens.
Potential tornado 'surreal' for residents who witnessed damaging storm in southern Ontario
Witnessing a potential tornado was 'surreal' for residents who caught a glimpse of the damaging storm in southern Ontario on Wednesday night.
Hundreds have applied for this 'adventurer' job in Banff National Park
Coined as Banff's 'ultimate summer job,' the Moraine Lake Bus Company says hundreds of people from across the world have applied for its adventurer position.
'We'll need all hands on deck': Details emerge after deadly boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
Police say they have wrapped up their on-scene investigation into a deadly boat crash in eastern Ontario as details of the incident begin to emerge.
'Looking over our shoulders': A killing looms large in a little B.C. town
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished.
WestJet planning new fare category for travellers willing to forgo carry-on bag
WestJet Airlines plans to launch a new cheaper fare category that would be available to travellers willing to fly without a carry-on bag.
Jennifer Lopez's response to question about Ben Affleck is a reminder of their decades of love in the spotlight
Plenty of people are wondering if Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are having problems in their marriage, but one person had the nerve to ask in a public forum.