Steve Maneri (born March 20, 1988) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

. 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 ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

and was signed as an

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 ...

by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

in 2010. He has played for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

, and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

Early life

Maneri attended Saddle Brook High School in

Saddle Brook, New Jersey Saddle Brook is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 14,294, an increase of 635 (+4.6%) from the 2010 census count of 13,659, which in turn reflected ...

, graduating in 2006. He played varsity

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 ...

for three years, earning all-county honors as well as being named to the Bergen-Passaic Scholastic League Carpenter Division first-team in his junior and senior seasons. Maneri played one season of football as a

, making 36 catches for 607 yards and five touchdowns as a senior, earning ''

Bergen Record ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and ...

'' second-team All-North

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

honors. He was coached in football at Saddle Brook by NationalUnderclassmen.com and National Underclassmen Combine founder David Schuman.

College career

Following high school, Maneri attended

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, playing in ten games at tight end as a true freshman in 2006. He had six catches on the season for 61 yards and two touchdowns. He played in 13 games in 2007, starting three. In 2008, as a junior, Maneri started 9 of 12 games, recording 14 receptions for 150 yards and four touchdowns. In his senior season in 2009, Maneri started all 13 games at tight end, finishing the season with 12 receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns, earning third-team All-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

honors.

Professional career

Houston Texans

After going

undrafted 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 ...

in the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

, Maneri signed with the

as an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

. He was waived by the team during final cuts on September 4, 2010.

New England Patriots (first stint)

Maneri was claimed off waivers by the

on September 5, 2010. He was waived on September 27, 2010, after being inactive for the first three games of the season. He was then re-signed to the team's practice squad on September 29. He was re-signed to a future contract for the 2011 season on January 20, 2011. He was waived on September 4.

Kansas City Chiefs

On September 5, he was claimed off waivers by the

. During the 2012 offseason, his position was changed to Tight End.

Chicago Bears

On March 21, 2013, Maneri signed a two-year deal with the

. On October 21, the Bears released Maneri to make room for Jordan Palmer after

Jay Cutler Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. A member of the Chicago Bears for most of his career, he is ...

's injury.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Maneri signed with the

on February 14, 2014. He was released by the Buccaneers on May 12, 2014.

New England Patriots (second stint)

Maneri re-signed with the

on August 10, 2014. He was released on August 30 during final cuts. On December 17, 2014, the Patriots announced that they re-signed Maneri to the 53-man roster. On January 17, 2015, the Patriots waived him.

New York Jets

Maneri was signed by the

on June 15, 2015 after Zach Sudfeld suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

in minicamp.

References

External links

New England Patriots bioTemple Owls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maneri, Steve 1988 births Living people People from Saddle Brook, New Jersey Players of American football from Bergen County, New Jersey Saddle Brook High School alumni American football offensive tackles American football tight ends Temple Owls football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen New England Patriots players Kansas City Chiefs players Chicago Bears players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players New York Jets players