Mahomed Sanu Bursts Onto the Scene

By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Cincinnati Bengals rookie wide receiver has started to emerge within the Bengals potent offense, with two touchdowns in the first half Sunday against Oakland this past weekend, giving him four touchdowns over Cincinnati’s last three games. Not coincidentally, the Bengals scored 31 and 28 points in winning the first two of those games, and went into the half against Oakland with 24 points and a big lead.

It has been a reversal of fortune of late for the rookie receiver. He struggled throughout training camp and did not even make a single reception until Week 7 of the regular season. With fellow wide receiver Andrew Hawkins out of the lineup, however, Sanu has claimed a starting spot. He was on the field for 63 snaps in Week 11, a number equal to that of team-leading receiver A.J. Green, and earned another starting nod this past Sunday.

But Sanu’s performance is exactly what Cincinnati had in mind when it used a third-round pick to pluck him out of Rutgers University in this past April’s NFL Draft. Originally from Sayreville, New Jersey, Sanu also spent part of his childhood in his parents’ native Sierra Leone.  Sanu eventually returned to New Jersey, where he went on to star at South Brunswick High School as a triple option quarterback before enrolling at Rutgers in 2009.

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