Is it time for Chicago Bears DB Sherick McManis to step up? Is this is his chance? Nickelback Kelvin Hayden has been ruled out for the season with a torn hamstring, the team announced Wednesday. The “next man in” or “next man up” (I know that’s meaningless CLICHE buzzword coaches use in place of just saying “depth chart”) is second-year cornerback Isaiah Frey.
That makes Sherick McManis the new CB3. Not CB4, the Chris Rock gangsta rap parody film, which is the FUNNIEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Not that it’s relevant to here. But can McManis make his impact now?
I asked his former college coach, Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern.
“I’ve read and heard positive things about Sherick. Probably what he needs now is an opportunity,” Fitz said.
“He was phenomenal in the kicking game. They loved him in the kicking game. And the opportunity just didn’t happen. And now that their nickel got hurt, one man’s uh-oh is another man’s opportunity. So maybe that presents itself but that’s Coach Trestman’s decision.”
He also joked with me that he should text Coach Trestman. And jokingly asked if he’s still in Bourbonnais.
“It’s south of Orland Park, that’s all I know. And far from Kenosha.”
Sherrick McManis was drafted by the Houston Texans in the fifth round (144th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft. He signed a four-year, $1.982 million contract.
In 2012, Sherrick McManis was traded to the Chicago Bears for FB Tyler Clutts. In Week 9 against the Tennessee Titans, McManis blocked Brett Kern’s punt, which was recovered by former Northwestern teammate Corey Wootton, who returned the blocked punt for a touchdown.
“We’re very proud of those guys,” Pat Fitzgerald said of Sherrick McManis and Corey Wootton.
“That’s what being a Wildcat is all about. They both did well academically when they were here and if football didn’t work out they’d both me in the Fortune 500 somewhere, on the managerial track, killin’ it.”
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.