Manningham made the rest of the nation know what Warren G. Harding faithful and followers of the Michigan Wolvernines knew already. Super Mario is a prime time, clutch receiver.

Ohio was well represented in this year’s Super Bowl.

Mario Manningham #82 of the New York Giants, who in the final minutes of the Super Bowl Sunday made a great catch. The Giants were pinned on their own 12-yard line and had to get to the end zone in 3 minutes 46 seconds.

Eli Manning made a quick strike to get into the New England Patriots territory but needed Manningham to execute a perfect sideline catch to make it work.

Perfect execution is exactly what Manningham did. With Patrick Chung on his back, Manningham not only made the catch but also had his feet in perfect position for the 38-yard throw to be called a catch.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick challenged the call but the officials confirmed what Manningham already knew. He made that catch.

Manningham made the rest of the nation know what Warren G. Harding faithful and followers of the Michigan Wolvernines knew already. Super Mario is a prime time, clutch receiver.

Lloyd Carr, who coached Manningham at Michigan, said people wanted to watch Manningham during the Wolverines’ practices, always waiting to see something spectacular.

He soon became known as Super Mario on campus and, according to Erik Campbell, his position coach at Michigan, he made too many big plays during his training camp not to play immediately despite the presence of Steve Breaston and Jason Avant, established upper-class receivers.

In the seventh game of Manningham’s college career, Michigan had the ball on the 10, trailing by 4 points, with only enough time for one play against undefeated Penn State. Against man coverage, Manningham ran a post pattern and caught the winning touchdown pass.

“Nobody could cover him,” Carr said. “My guess is he’s never been intimidated in his life, because he’s got such wonderful ability.”

As for basketball, Manningham was a phenom in high school. WGH coach Steve Arnold tells of the football star being a standout on the hardwood.

“Some people don’t realize how great of a basketball player he was,” said Arnold, who added teams like Syracuse had a keen interest in Manningham playing basketball for the Orange.

“He had a triple-double against Akron St. Vincent in points, steals, and assists. That’s pretty special. Obviously him being a receiver, his hand-eye coordinator is really good, although basketball isn’t intertwined into his life anymore.”

Manningham first made his presence known early in 2009 against the Cowboys with 150 yards on 10 receptions and a TD making him a must-have for most fantasy football owners.

Coach Arnold is very proud of Manningham and will honor him at a home basketball game. “The thing that’s special about Mario is he doesn’t carry himself in an arrogant way,” the coach said. “He’s Mario to us and he wants to be treated like the same kid who was here. I talk to him about twice a week. He’ll come in and go into my refrigerator in the coach’s office. He’s a kid at heart. But he hasn’t forgotten where he comes from.”

Confident as ever, Manningham, a third-round pick of the Giants in 2008, found another opportunity to shine Sunday.