Manny Wilkins Jr. (born November 5, 1995) is an

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 ...

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 ...

for the St. Louis BattleHawks of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

. 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 ...

for

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. After going

undrafted 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 the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

he signed with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

of 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 ...

(NFL).

Early years

When Wilkins was 16, he was identified as a talented prospect. Wilkins's father, Manny Wilkins Sr., died when Manny was 10 years old in 2006. Wilkins relocated to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

with his mother in 2008, where he played football at Elkins High School. He relocated back to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to live with his aunt and uncle and started at quarterback while attending

San Marin High School San Marin High School is a public high school located in Novato, California, in the United States. History San Marin High School opened in 1968 in Novato. Robert Vieth became principal in 2007, after the former principal was dismissed by the ...

Novato, California Novato (Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. At the 2020 census, Novato had a population of 53,225. History What is now Novato was originally the site of several Coast Miwok ...

College career

Wilkins came to

as one of the most prolific quarterback prospects in Arizona State history. After redshirting his first season, and only appearing in three games in his redshirt freshman campaign, Wilkins won the starting quarterback position, beating out fellow highly touted prospect,

Brady White Brady White is an American football quarterback for the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League (USFL). He began his college football career at Arizona State University, before becoming a graduate transfer to the University of Me ...

. Wilkins redshirted his first year and didn't see game action. In 2015, Wilkins saw limited game action, Wilkins did not throw a pass, but had 7 rushing attempts for 55 yards. As a sophomore, Wilkins started 10 games beating out Brady White for the starting job in training camp. Wilkins finished the season with 197 completions for 311 attempts for 2329 yards and 12 touchdowns with 9 interceptions. Wilkins also had 128 rushing attempts for 246 yards and 5 touchdowns. As a junior, Wilkins started all 13 games and had 260 completions on 410 attempts for 3270 yards and 20 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Wilkins rushed on 138 attempts for 282 yards and 7 touchdowns. As a senior, Wilkins started all 13 games and had 247 completions and 393 attempts. He threw for 3025 yards for 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Wilkins also rushed on 112 attempts for 452 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Wilkins signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on May 3, 2019. He was waived on August 31, 2019, and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Packers on January 21, 2020. He was released by the Packers on April 27, 2020.

St. Louis BattleHawks

On February 12, 2023, Wilkins signed with the St. Louis BattleHawks of the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Manny 1995 births Living people African-American players of American football People from Novato, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area American football quarterbacks Arizona State Sun Devils football players Green Bay Packers players 21st-century African-American sportspeople