Mohamed Sanu

Mohamed Sanu Sr. (born August 22, 1989) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent.

At the 2008 NJSIAA Sectional Championships, he placed 2nd in the triple jump (14.08 m) and 3rd in the long jump (6.43 meters).

He also competed as a sprinter, recording personal-best times of 6.94 seconds in the 55 metres and 24.28 seconds in the 200 meters at the 2008 Merli Invitational.

He is a fan of soccer, and supports West Ham United.

As a true freshman wide receiver Sanu had 51 receptions for 639 yards and three touchdowns; he also ran 62 times for 346 yards and five touchdowns out of the Wildcat formation.

Sanu returned to the United States and lived in Dayton, New Jersey, where he eventually starred at South Brunswick High School as a triple option quarterback before enrolling at Rutgers University in 2009.

In his final season at South Brunswick High School, Sanu led the Vikings to their first playoff berth in nearly 40 years, including three rushing touchdowns of at least 80 yards against Edison High School.

He was ruled ineligible to play during his senior year, due to exceeding NJSIAA's age restriction; he graduated from high school six months early and enrolled at Rutgers University in January 2009.

In track & field, Sanu was one of the state's top performers in the jumping events.

Sanu was the first-ever true freshman to start at wide receiver for Rutgers under coach Greg Schiano, and won Most Valuable Player honors at the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl.

In 2010, Sanu was a consensus preseason All-Big East wide receiver.

In 2011 he tied a Big East record with 13 receptions against North Carolina.

The next week, he broke his own record by catching 16 passes.

In 2011, Sanu broke the Big East single-season reception record with 115 receptions for 1,206 yards, a record previously held by Pitt's Larry Fitzgerald.

In his three seasons at Rutgers, Sanu caught 210 passes for 2,263 yards and 19 touchdowns, and gained 3,019 all-purpose yards.

He also completed eight of 18 passes for 207 yards and four touchdowns, recorded an interception and punted twice for 67 yards.

He played college football at Rutgers and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

Sanu has also been a member of the Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, and the Miami Dolphins.

Originally from Sayreville, New Jersey, Sanu was born to a Muslim family and also lived in his parents' native Sierra Leone as a child.

The Cincinnati Bengals selected Sanu in the third round (83rd overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft, the 12th wide receiver taken that year.

He signed a four-year, $2.71 million contract with them that included a signing bonus of $563,252.

On September 23, 2012, against the Washington Redskins, Sanu came in as the wildcat quarterback out of a shotgun formation for the Bengals on the first play from scrimmage of the game and threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to A. J. Green.

This not only made him the first Bengals wide receiver ever to throw a touchdown pass, but it also gave him a touchdown pass before his first NFL reception.

Sanu had his first touchdown catch during Week 10 against the New York Giants.

He finished the game with four receptions for 47 yards.

During Week 12 against the Oakland Raiders, Sanu had five receptions for 29 yards and two touchdowns in the 34–10 victory for his first NFL game with multiple touchdowns.

On November 30, 2012, it was announced that Sanu had season-ending surgery to repair a stress fracture.

Sanu played in all 16 games of the 2013 NFL season, finishing with 47 receptions for 455 yards and two touchdowns.

The Bengals finished atop the AFC North with an 11–5 record.

In the Wild Card Round against the San Diego Chargers, his playoff debut, Sanu had a 13-yard reception in a 27–10 loss.

In the 2014 season, Sanu played a much bigger role in the Bengals offense due to injuries to receivers A. J. Green and Marvin Jones.

Sanu recorded two 100-yard games in 2014.

During Week 2, he recorded a career-long 76-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Andy Dalton in the 24–10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

In the next game against the Tennessee Titans, Sanu threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Dalton in the 33–7 victory.

It was Sanu's fourth completion of his career on four passing attempts and the second touchdown pass of his career.

In Week 6 he had a career-high 10 receptions against the Carolina Panthers, for 120 yards and a touchdown in a 37–37 tie.

During Week 8 against the Baltimore Ravens, he had five receptions for a career-high 125 yards in the 27–24 victory.

The Bengals returned to the playoffs with a 10–5–1 record.

In the Wild Card Round against the Indianapolis Colts, he had three receptions for 31 receiving yards on seven targets in the 26–10 loss.

In the 2015 season, Sanu had 33 receptions for 394 yards.