Manuel Johnson (born October 14, 1986) is a former

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

Early life

Johnson attended North Garland High School as a freshman, where he suffered a broken ankle. He transferred to Gilmer High School as a sophomore. He was a backup

and saw limited playing time. As a junior, he was named a starter at wide receiver, setting school single-season receiving records with 81 receptions for 1,400 yards and 13 touchdowns, while helping the team reach the state quarterfinal game. He received All-state honors. As a senior, he was switched to

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

, setting school single-season passing records with 273-of-404 completions for 4,098 yards, 48 passing touchdowns, 1,030 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. He led the team to a 14–0 record and its first Class 3A Division II state championship. He received All-state, Dave Campbell Player of the Year, MVP District 13-AAA and MVP All East Texas honors. He was the No. 13 ranked wide receiver in the nation by Rivals.com. Johnson finished his high school career with 1,440, receiving yards, 4,098 passing yards, 48 passing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s, 18 rushing

s and 16 receiving

s. He also competed in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and track. He won state titles in both the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

College career

Johnson accepted a football scholarship from the

. As a true freshman, he appeared in 10 games (one start), registering 10 receptions for 170 yards and one

(a 55-yard reception). As a sophomore, he started 5 out of 12 games, collecting 36 receptions for 378 yards and 3

s. He missed the eleventh game against

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

with a concussion. As a junior, he started 7 out of 14 games, making 31 receptions for 448 yards and 4

s. Seventeen of his 27 receptions and 341 of his 423 receiving yards came in the last five contests. He tallied 4 receptions for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns against

. His 4 touchdown receptions came in back-to-back games against

and

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

. He had his first career pass attempt and completion against the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

, hitting

Malcolm Kelly Malcolm Xavier Kelly (born December 30, 1986) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the second round (51st overall) of the 2008 NFL draft by the Washington Red ...

on a 25-yarder. As a senior, he started all 13 games, posting 42 receptions for 714 yards and 9

s. He was limited with a dislocated left elbow he suffered in the seventh game against the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. He was the team's third leading receiver behind

Juaquin Iglesias Juaquin Iglesias (pronounced Hwah-KEEN; born August 22, 1987) is an American former professional gridiron football, football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He played colle ...

and Jermaine Gresham. In the season opener against the

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is part of the University of Tennessee System. History UTC was founde ...

, he tallied 9 receptions for 120 yards and one

. Against

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

he had 5 receptions for a school record 206 yards and 3

s (covering 76, 55 and 63 yards), joining Antonio Perkins as the only two players in school history to have three scoring plays of 55-plus yards in one game. He played in the

2009 BCS National Championship Game The 2009 BCS National Championship Game (branded as the 2009 FedEx BCS National Championship Game for sponsorship reasons) was an American football game played at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on January 8, 2009. It was the nationa ...

, where the Sooners lost 14–24 to the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

. He finished his college career with 26 starts out of 49 games, 119 receptions for 1,710 yards and 17

Professional career

Johnson was selected by the

in the seventh round (229th overall) of the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

. He was released on September 5 and signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the next day, after the team decided to instead keep

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Kevin Ogletree Kevin Ogletree (born August 5, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Detroit Lions and New York Giants. He signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free age ...

. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, he was one of the last cuts and was signed again to the practice squad on September 6. He was promoted to the active roster on December 15 and played in 2 games. He was waived on September 3,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

References

External links

The P.R.I.D.E. of Gilmer, OU's Manuel Johnson, becomes a Dallas Cowboy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Manuel 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Gilmer, Texas Players of American football from Upshur County, Texas American football wide receivers Oklahoma Sooners football players Dallas Cowboys players