Keanemana "Mana" Silva (born August 17, 1988) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

Free Safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

and

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He was signed by the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

in 2011. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Early years

Silva attended

Kamehameha Schools Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal membe ...

in Keaau, Hawaii, where he practiced football, baseball, basketball and track. As a senior, he received All-state honors as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He also was named All-state in baseball as a senior. He was a member of league championship teams in football, baseball and basketball.

College career

Silva accepted a football scholarship from

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

. He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a freshman, and was moved from

to wide receiver. At the end of the year he transferred to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, to be closer to his family. In 2007, he sat out due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

transfer rules. As a sophomore, he was converted into a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

. He appeared in 11 games, playing mostly on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. He collected 10 tackles (8 solo) and one pass defensed. As a junior, he became a starter at

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

. He appeared in all 13 games (10 starts), recording 74 tackles (2 for loss), 6 interceptions (eleventh in the nation), 10 passes defensed and one quarterback hurry. As a senior, he registered 85 tackles (second on the team), 3 tackles for loss, 8 interceptions (second in the nation), 15 passes defensed and one fumble recovery. He finished his college career with 169 tackles (5 for loss), 14 interceptions (school record), 26 passes defensed and one fumble recovery.

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

Silva was signed as an

by the

after the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

. He was waived on September 3 and signed to the

practice squad In sports, 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. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

the next day. He was cut on September 6 and re-signed on September 21. He was released on November 1.

Buffalo Bills

On November 10, 2011, he was signed to the

' practice squad. To make room for Silva, the Bills released safety

Delano Howell Delano Andre Howell (born November 17, 1989) is a former strong safety. He was originally signed by the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Howell played his four years of college football at Stanford University first as a running ba ...

Dallas Cowboys

On December 13, 2011, he was signed off the Bill's practice squad to the

, after safety

Barry Church Barry Michael Church (born February 11, 1988) is a former American football strong safety. He played college football at the University of Toledo and signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2010. Church has also played for t ...

suffered a shoulder injury against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. He appeared in the final 2 games of the season as a backup safety, making 4

tackles. In 2012, he played in the first 3 games of the season, making 2 defensive tackles and one

stop. On September 27, he was released to make room for punter Brian Moorman.

Buffalo Bills (second stint)

On October 2, 2012, Silva was signed to the

' practice squad. On November 8, he was promoted to the active roster. He appeared in 7 games as a backup safety. On August 6, 2013, he left training camp to solve personal matters and was placed on the exempt-left squad list. He never returned to the team.

Personal life

Silva is of Native Hawaiian and Samoan descent. In March 2015, he was invited to the inaugural NFL veteran combine, but he wasn't signed by a team.

References

External links

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Mana 1988 births Living people People from Hilo, Hawaii Players of American football from Hawaii American football safeties Oregon State Beavers football players Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players Baltimore Ravens players Buffalo Bills players Dallas Cowboys players American sportspeople of Samoan descent