Manny Lawson (born July 3, 1984) 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 wi ...

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at North Carolina State, and was drafted by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's Nationa ...

in the first round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with add ...

. Lawson also played for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

and

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 ...

Early years

His father, Donald P. Lawson, was in the Air Force and stationed at

Offutt Air Force Base Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base south of Omaha, adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing (55 WG) of the Ai ...

near

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...

when Manny was born. Lawson excelled in football as well as basketball in his middle school years. He also attended Spring Creek Elementary School in

Seven Springs, North Carolina Seven Springs is a town in Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. It lies next to the Neuse River. The 2012 population was estimated at 111. It is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The tow ...

. Lawson attended

Eastern Wayne High School Eastern Wayne High School (EWHS) is a public high school located in Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. It opened in 1969. It is classified as a 3-A school with enrollment estimated at 1100 students. The school mascot is the ...

Goldsboro, North Carolina Goldsboro, originally Goldsborough, is a city and the county seat of Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 33,657 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of and is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropol ...

. Super Prep rated Lawson as one of the Top 25 players (#21) in the state of North Carolina during his senior year. He recorded 54 tackles and 12 sacks on defense and also rushed for 456 yards on offense during his final season, picking up Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors. Also a

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

star, Lawson qualified for the state indoor track meet in four events:

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

(7.72m or 24'11"),

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

(14.41m or 47'3"),

55-meter dash 55 metres is a sprint event in track and field. It is a relatively uncommon non-championship event for indoor track and field. The history of the event lies in the 60-yard dash, which is about 5 inches shorter than 55 metres. Since the 1960s almos ...

(6.76s),

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

(22.09s) and the

55-meter hurdles 55 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling, usually only run in indoor competitions. This is more commonly run at the high school level. The objective is to approach the first hurdle with 7 steps, each hurdle after that needs to have 3 step interv ...

(7.72s).

College career

In 2002, he played in every game as a reserve outside linebacker. He recorded 35 tackles (20 solos) with a stop for a 5-yard loss on 144 plays. He caused a fumble and deflected four passes. He led the nation with three blocked punts, and was the co-winner of the Pack's Most Valuable Specialist Award. Lawson competed with the Wolfpack

squad in the spring of 2003; in his first meet, he won the long jump and the triple jump in the Patriot Games. He posted the fastest time in the

60-meter hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent with the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women's and men's world records are 7.68 seconds (Susanna Ka ...

(indoors) for NC State that season (8.55s). He earned the Most Dominant Award for defense after spring workouts in 2003. In 2003, he played in every game as an outside linebacker, starting against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

on the strong-side. After the regular season, he shifted to right defensive end and started there against

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

in the Tangerine Bowl. He recorded 53 tackles (33 solos) with three sacks, seven stops for losses of 29 yards and three pressures. He caused two fumbles and recovered another. He blocked two punts and had five pass deflections. Lawson competed on the

squad during the winter and spring, winning the ACC title in the indoor

with a mark of 7.40 meters (24'3"). He finished second in that event outdoors with a leap of 7.33 meters (24'0.5"), he finished seventh in the outdoor

(14.90m or 48'10.75"), fourth in the

(8.41s) and fourth with the

4 × 100 meter relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky in many East Asian c ...

with a time of 41.25 seconds. He was named the Wolfpack's Special Teams Player of the Year and Most Improved Defensive Lineman following 2004 spring drills, he also earned the Defensive Leadership Award. In 2004, he made Second-team All-ACC performer after ranking sixth in the conference with seven sacks for 55 yards. He ranked third on the team with a dozen stops for losses of 74 yards and second with sixteen quarterback pressures. He registered 50 tackles (39 solos) with a pair of fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. He deflected four passes and blocked a punt in his first season as a starter, lining up at right defensive end in every game. He was a co-recipient of the 2004 Cary Brewbaker Award, given to the most valuable defensive lineman. He was named the strength index champion for the Wolfpack linemen. In 2005, Lawson made All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team selection by The NFL Draft Report. He started every game, except against Wake Forest, at right defensive end. He participated in 617 plays during the regular season. He recorded a career-high 58 tackles (33 solos), adding three solo hits 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 registered 21 pressures with four pass deflections and a blocked kick. He ranked second in the conference and twelfth in the nation with 10.5 sacks for minus 83 yards. He ranked fourth in the conference, third on the team and 14th in the nation with 19.5 stops for losses of 112 yards

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

The

selected Lawson in the

with the intention that he could bring pressure off the edges as the 49ers defense transitioned from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4. Although Lawson played defensive end in college, the 49ers felt that he had the athletic ability to change position to linebacker. Lawson impressed opposing teams with his athleticism and speed on the field. He showed that he could play linebacker at the next level consistently, making plays from sideline to sideline. He finished the year with 2.5 sacks, one interception, one blocked punt, and 2 fumble recoveries. Lawson was voted Week 2 Rookie of the Week for his performance against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

by voters on the NFL website. In the game, he recorded three tackles, two sacks, and two quarterback pressures. In 2007, he started off the season well. He accrued 11 tackles in the first two contests, both tight victories, over Arizona and St.Louis. He had several good QB pressures but mainly was noted for his excellent coverage play, keeping both teams' tight ends fairly non-existent in the offense and letting the rest of the defense focus on stopping those teams' excellent wide receiver duos. Lawson tore his ACL during a practice preparing for a week 3 games against Pittsburgh, ending his season.

Cincinnati Bengals

On August 2, 2011, Lawson signed a one-year contract with the

. On April 14, 2012, Lawson re-signed with the Bengals.

Buffalo Bills

On March 13, 2013, Lawson signed with the

for 4 years worth up to $12 million. Under new defensive coordinator

Jim Schwartz James J. Schwartz (born June 2, 1966) is an American football coach who is a Senior Defensive Assistant for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He was head coach of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) ...

Lawson switched from

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

in Schwartz's 4-3 scheme He then changed back to outside linebacker for the 2015 season in coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching position ...

's 3-4 scheme. In 2016, Lawson was suspended one game for a violation of the league's personal conduct policy due to a domestic situation during the 2015 season, and he appealed the suspension. On September 2, 2016, Lawson was released by the Bills.

Statistics

NFL statistics

Key * GP: games played * COMB: combined tackles * TOTAL: total tackles * AST: assisted tackles * SACK: sacks * FF: forced fumbles * FR: fumble recoveries * FR YDS: fumble return yards * INT: interceptions * IR YDS: interception return yards * AVG IR: average interception return * LNG: longest interception return * TD: interceptions returned for touchdown * PD: passes defensed

References

External links

Cincinnati Bengals bioESPN bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Manny 1984 births Living people People from Goldsboro, North Carolina African-American players of American football American football linebackers NC State Wolfpack football players San Francisco 49ers players Cincinnati Bengals players Buffalo Bills players Ed Block Courage Award recipients