Tony Mandarich
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tony Mandarich | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Date of birth: | September 23, 1966 |
| Place of birth: | Oakville, Ontario, Canada |
| Career information | |
| Position(s): | Offensive Tackle |
| Jersey №: | 77, 79 |
| College: | Michigan State |
| NFL Draft: | 1989 / Round: 1/ Pick 2 |
| Organizations | |
| As player: | |
| 1989-1991 1996-1998 |
Green Bay Packers Indianapolis Colts |
| Stats at DatabaseFootball.com | |
Ante Josip "Tony" Mandarich (born September 23, 1966 in Oakville, Ontario) is a former football offensive lineman of the NFL. He was the first round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in 1989, second overall behind Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman and ahead of the third selection, Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders.
Tony had an older brother, John, who was instrumental in his development as an athlete, including sponsoring his younger brother's transfer to a stateside high school before Tony's senior year. John made his own reputation in professional football in the Canadian Football League.
Playing at Michigan State University, Mandarich played in the 1988 Rose Bowl, was named as a first-team All-American, an Outland Award finalist and a two-time Big Ten Lineman of the Year. Upon his entry into the 1989 NFL Draft, both scouts and media (most notably Sports Illustrated, which did a cover story on him, famously naming him "The Incredible Bulk") began trumpeting Mandarich as the best offensive line prospect ever. He appeared on the cover of Sports Ilustrated twice. Mandarich was also a colorful character, such as challenging then-Heavyweight Boxing Champion Mike Tyson to a fight, his well-documented love of the band Guns N' Roses (he had a dog named Axl and also a tattoo of the cross-design from the cover of Appetite for Destruction on his arm), and referring to Green Bay as "a village".
Drafted as an offensive lineman, Mandarich never lived up to the very high expectations set for him, and spent most of his first year on the Packers on special teams after a lengthy holdout that only got settled the last week before the regular season. He was also known for having attitude issues, and after three seasons of lackluster performance on a four-year contract, Mandarich was cut by the Packers.
The question of steroid use has been discussed as a possible factor in Mandarich's spectacular failure. This accusation is one that Mandarich has consistently denied. He instead blamed himself, in a 2003 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article: "I wanted to create as much hype as I could for many different reasons — exposure, negotiation leverage, you name it. And it all worked, except the performance wasn't there when it was time to play football."
Mandarich returned to football for three years between 1996 and 1998 with the Indianapolis Colts. He had a more successful, if not particularly noteworthy, career with the Colts before retiring from football in 1998.
From September 2004 until September 2005, Mandarich served as an NFL analyst for The Score TV sports network in Canada. He quit in October 2005 and currently resides both in Arizona and in Ontario He now runs a photography studio.[1] Tony has expanded his business to Mandarich Media Group which now includes Photography, Video Production, Web Design, SEO & Internet Marketing.
