Manuel S. Ramírez (born February 19, 1983) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for nine years. He is the run game coordinator and offensive line coach for the Jackson State Tigers, a position he has held since 2024. Ramirez was selected by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

in the fourth round of the

2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draf ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

. He had also played for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Early life

Ramírez grew up in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. He attended Willowridge High School where he was named First-team All-District 20-5A two years in a row. In addition, he was named the 6th best center in the country by Rivals.com. During his senior year, Ramírez was recruited by

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas Syste ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

but committed to

College career

As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) 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 ...

freshman in 2003, Ramírez started 10 games, making his first start against SMU and capped off the season with a start in the 2003 Houston Bowl. During the next three years, he started all 36 regular season games along with starts in the 2004 Holiday Bowl, the 2005

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its Cotton Bowl (stadium), namesake ...

and the

2006 Insight Bowl The 2006 Insight Bowl was a college football bowl game, the 18th edition of the Insight Bowl. It was played on December 29 at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, pitting the Texas Tech Red Raiders agai ...

. Ramírez was named a 2nd Team All-Big 12 Offensive Lineman in 2005. Ramírez began the 2006 season on the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that g ...

Watch list in 2006, and was named to the All-Big 12 Preseason First-team. He concluded the 2006 season being named to the All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Team. He set the school

bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...

record in 2003 by pressing 525 pounds. Ramírez tied that record the following year. In 2005, Ramírez broke his own bench press record by pressing 550 pounds at the Annual

"Night of Champions". Ramírez finished 2006 on an

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

that allowed the fewest sacks, 16, since the 2000 season.

2006 Insight Bowl

Ramírez played in the

which saw the biggest comeback in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division-I bowl history. The Red Raiders overcame a 31-point third-quarter deficit to beat their opponent by 3 in overtime. The winning touchdown was a 3-yard run from Shannon Woods behind a block by Ramírez.

Post Texas Tech career

Ramírez entered the

following the completion of the 2006 season. He was listed as the number four overall offensive guard prospect by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Insider. Ramírez accepted an invitation to the 2007 Under Armour Senior Bowl, a post-season exhibition game, played in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

. Ramírez also accepted an invitation to the 2007

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, held February 21–27, 2007 at the

RCA Dome The RCA Dome (originally Hoosier Dome) was a domed stadium in Indianapolis. It was the home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise for 24 seasons (1984–2007). It was completed at a cost of $77.5 million, as part of the Indiana Convention ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Professional career

Detroit Lions (first stint)

Ramírez was selected by the

with the 18th pick in the fourth round of the

. Detroit traded two of their three fifth-round selections (139th and 154th overall) to 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, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

for their fourth-round selection (117th overall) in order to select Ramírez. In October 2010, Ramírez was named the

starting right guard.

Denver Broncos

On January 4, 2011, Ramírez was signed by the

. In 2013, Ramírez won the starting center job after

Dan Koppen Daniel Koppen (born September 12, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a center for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos. Prior to entering the NFL in ...

tore his ACL during training camp. On September 12, 2013, he signed a two-year contract extension with the Broncos. In

Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2013 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2013 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks to ...

, Ramirez could not hear the play call of

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the In ...

, which resulted in Ramirez snapping the ball early, over the head of Manning, into the end zone for a safety and giving the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

a 2–0 lead just twelve seconds into the game. The Broncos would not recover and would go on to lose the game, 43–8.

Detroit Lions (second stint)

On April 30, 2015, Broncos traded Ramirez, as well as, their first and fifth-round

2015 NFL draft The 2015 NFL draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football, football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park ...

selections (28th and 143rd overall, respectively) and their fifth-round selection in the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

for the Lions' first round pick in the

(23rd overall) in order for Broncos to select linebacker Shane Ray. The Lions in turn selected offensive lineman

Laken Tomlinson Laken Tomlinson (born February 9, 1992) is a Jamaican-American professional football guard for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Duke Blue Devils. He was selected by the Detroit Lions i ...

with the 28th pick.

Chicago Bears

Ramirez signed with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

on March 30, 2016. His contract was for 1-year and was worth up to $965,000, with an $80,000 signing bonus and only $80,000 guaranteed.

Retirement

On June 8, 2016, Ramirez announced his retirement from the NFL. He later joined the support staff at his alma mater

as their director of player development.

Personal life

Ramírez majored in exercise sport science and was married in July 2006 to Iris Castillo. He is of Mexican-American descent.

References

External links

Texas Tech Red Raiders player bio

NFL Combine resultsTexas Tech Red Raiders coaching profileTexas Southern Tigers profileJackson State Tigers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Manuel 1983 births Living people Players of American football from Houston American sportspeople of Mexican descent American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Detroit Lions players Denver Broncos players Chicago Bears players Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches High school football coaches in Texas Texas Southern Tigers football coaches Jackson State Tigers football coaches Hispanic and Latino American players of American football