Rod Manuel

Rod Manuel was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and played at Western Hills High School in Benbrook. He lettered four years at Oklahoma (1993–1996). Pittsburgh drafted him in the sixth round, 199th overall, in 1997, and he played three games for the Steelers over two seasons. Cleveland took him ninth overall in the 1999 expansion draft but released him. He then had a long Arena Football League career as a two-way lineman, mostly with the Grand Rapids Rampage, who won ArenaBowl XV in 2001. In 2002 he made nine catches and scored two touchdowns as a lineman under the league's ironman rules. Note: his Wikipedia article has no details on his OU career, so this bio is short. Pro Football Reference has a player page for him (linked below), but its stats weren't pulled for this bio. Tulsa World wrote on June 18, 1997: "Manuel, a former tight end, had 91 tackles and five sacks for the Sooners last year." The Oklahoman wrote on June 18, 1997: "The 6-foot-5, 281-pound Manuel, who was drafted in the sixth round out of Oklahoma, likely will back up Nolan Harrison and Kevin Henry on the Steelers' defensive line."