Manti Te'o in the NFL
In the NFL. Photo: Shotgun Spratling/Neon Tommy, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Linebacker, Notre Dame, 2009–⁠12

Manti Te’o

Number
No. 5
Height
6′2″
Hometown
Laie, HI
Born
Jan 26, 1991, in Lāʻie, Hawaii

Wikipedia readers: about 33,891 a month over the past year

Manti Te’o played linebacker at Notre Dame (2009–⁠12). He won the 2012 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the 2012 Butkus Award, the 2012 Chuck Bednarik Award and the 2012 Lombardi Award. He finished second in the 2012 Heisman vote and was a consensus All‑American in 2012. The San Diego Chargers took Te’o in round 2, No. 38 overall in the 2013 NFL Draft.

At a glance

Best season
2012
Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Butkus Award and 7 more
Heisman vote
2nd
In the 2012 vote
Drafted
No. 38
Round 2, 2013 NFL Draft (San Diego Chargers)

Honors

All-America: consensus 2012; AP second team 2011; Walter Camp second team 2011; Scout.com second team 2011

Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.

Season by season, from Wikipedia

SeasonTacklesFumbles
SoloAstTotFF
20092934630
201066671331
201162661281
201255581130
Career2122254372

From the college statistics table in Te’o’s Wikipedia article (Manti Teʻo, CC BY-SA), season by season as the article gives them, bowls included where it counts them. Our own records come from box scores, which start in 2004 (tackles in 2016, kickoff returns in 2009).

Defense before 2016

SeasonGSoloAstTklTFLSacksIntPBUFFHur
2009122934635.510101
2010N1366671339.51–31–
201113626612813.550214
20121355581135.51.57404
On file212225437348.5–102–

Our box scores carry tackles, tackles for loss and sacks from 2016 only, so these come from other sources, marked by season: unmarked, cfbstats.com (Open Data Commons Attribution License), its game lines summed (G: the games he has a line in); N, NCAA statistics, via octonion/football, the season’s official lines (G: games played). A dash: the source has no number for it.

On the roster

SeasonTeamNo.PosHt
2009Notre Dame5ILB
2010Notre Dame5ILB
2011Notre Dame5ILB
2012Notre Dame5ILB6′2″

As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.

Game by game

2012 Notre Dame 6 games with an interception on file, 7 INT
DateOpponentResultInt
Sep 1vs.NavyW 50–⁠101
Sep 22vs.MichiganW 13–⁠62
Oct 20vs.BYUW 17–⁠141
Oct 27atOklahomaW 30–⁠131
Nov 10atBoston CollegeW 21–⁠61
Nov 24atUSCW 22–⁠131

Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file. Before 2016 our source’s box scores record only interceptions for defenders (no tackles, tackles for loss or sacks), so only those games are listed. His tackles, tackles for loss and sacks from other sources are under “Defense before 2016” below.

Before the draft

DrillCombine 2013Combine or pro day 2013
Height6′1¼″
Weight241 lb
Arm length32½″
Hand size9½″
Wingspan76″W
40-yard dash4.82 s
10-yard split1.67 s
Vertical jump33″
Broad jump9′5″
Bench press21 reps
3-cone drill7.13 s
20-yard shuttle4.27 s

Combine or pro day: the source doesn’t say which. Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

In the NFL

7 seasons, 59 games with a stat; latest team: Chicago Bears.

SeasonTeamGTklSacksInt
2013San Diego Chargers135200
2014San Diego Chargers104811
2015San Diego Chargers12650.51
2016San Diego Chargers31700
2017New Orleans Saints146000
2018New Orleans Saints51600
2019New Orleans Saints2400
NFL career592621.52

Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0), matched to him by his draft pick and college (Player ids: DynastyProcess (GPL-3.0)). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.

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