Mohamed Jah Massaquoi ( ; born November 24, 1986) 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 ...

wide receiver. 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 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and was drafted by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

in the second round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

. Massaquoi has also been a member of the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

and

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

Early years

Massaquoi was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

to parents from Liberia. He played high-school football at Independence High School in Charlotte. During his four years there his team did not lose a single game and won four straight state championships. He played with two college football notables, former

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

quarterback

Chris Leak Christopher Patrick Leak (born May 3, 1985) is an American football coach and former gridiron football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Florida, and led the Florida Gators to victory in the 2007 BCS National Champion ...

and former

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

wide receiver

Hakeem Nicks Hakeem Amir Nicks (born January 14, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at North Carolina, and was drafted by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Nicks has also played for t ...

. *Career receptions: 274 *Career receiving yards: 4,876 *Career receiving touchdowns: 76

College career

He finished his collegiate career at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

with 158 catches for 2,282 yards and 16 touchdowns, which ranks fourth best in school history. Massaquoi had a strong senior season with career-highs in catches (58), yards (920), and touchdowns (8). In Massaquoi's last four regular-season games at Georgia, he caught 29 passes for 544 yards and 4 touchdowns (including a career-high 3 in Georgia's 45-42 loss to Georgia Tech). His longest reception came in his junior season against SEC East rival

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, hauling in an 84-yard touchdown pass from quarterback

Matthew Stafford John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, where he was a first-team All-American, and was selected f ...

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Massaquoi was drafted by the Browns in the second round with the 50th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. Massaquoi was the Browns leading receiver during his rookie season (2009) with 34 catches for 624 yards, including an NFL best 148 receiving yards (on 8 catches) in Week 4. In his four years with the Browns, Massaquoi caught a total of 118 passes for 1,745 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Massaquoi was signed by the

on April 5, 2013 on a two-year deal. He was released on August 19, 2013.

New York Jets

Massaquoi signed with the

on August 22, 2013. He was released on August 31, 2013.

Accident

In April 2017, Massaquoi suffered an ATV accident which led to the amputation of four fingers on his left hand.

References

External links

Georgia Bulldogs bioCleveland Browns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massaquoi, Mohamed 1986 births Living people American amputees American people of Liberian descent Players of American football from Charlotte, North Carolina American football wide receivers Georgia Bulldogs football players Cleveland Browns players Jacksonville Jaguars players New York Jets players