By Tupou Vaipulu Jr.

A 6’8 tall Tongan-born American Football player, Giovanni Manu (23) was drafted by the Detroit Lions, from the University of British Columbia (UBC) on Saturday, 27 April 2024.

The Detroit Lions traded their third-round pick with the New York Jets in order to secure their 126^th pick of Giovanni.

Giovanni said that it meant a lot to him when he found out about the trade the Detroit Lions made with the New York Jets just to “grab” him.

He received a phone call from the Lion’s Head Coach, Dan Campbell on the same day he was drafted. 

Coach Campbell said “Giovanni are you ready to be a Lion?” and he said “Oh yeah, I’m ready to go – I’m fired up coach.”

Giovanni was the first football player from his university in Canada, to be drafted by NFL.

Local boy

Werner Giovanni Manu was born in Tonga and raised at Pahu in Nuku'alofa, where he lived with his parents Sione Manu and, Alvina Tu'inukuafe Manu and two older siblings. He attended Ocean of Light school with his brother John and sister Madelene. His parents own the BMG Automotive in ByPass Road.

Sione and Alvina Manu travelled to Canada to be with Giovanni at the time of the draft.

At the age of 11 years, Giovanni migrated with his siblings and cousin Kalo to Vancouver, Canada in 2012.

They settled down in a small town called Pitt Meadows with their mother’s older sister, Sela. He attended high school there where he found his passion for American Football.

He told Matangi Tonga that he grew up always playing rugby and that he loved it. However, when he got to Canada, rugby wasn’t as popular as it was in the islands. There he started playing football, grew to love the game and got a football scholarship to UBC after high school.

Giovanni started playing football in college for the UBC Thunderbirds (Canada) for four years before being drafted by the Detroit Lions in the US, advancing his career to a professional level.

Giovanni's journey to the NFL was not easy, from leaving his home and everything he knew, to starting over in a foreign country without his parents who are still living in Tonga. He said that his motivation is the hope that he could give his family a better and more "comfortable" life.

"I grew up in Tonga so I know how hard life is in the island," he said. "I'm doing this to help my family and put my parents in a more comfortable situation".

To be drafted by the NFL was a dream come true and he hoped his story would be an inspiration for Tongan kids.

"To all the little kids in Tonga that are dreaming big dreams – work hard and put God first, your family second and everything else will fall into place" he said.

NFL

This is what NFL has to say about Giovanni Manu who is 6’8 tall and weighs about 113kg:

“Manu looks like an offensive line prospect who was crafted with the help of artificial intelligence. He’s tall with long arms and impressive lean muscle mass. However, he hasn’t had exposure to high-end competition and elements of his game will have to be built from the ground up. He has some nasty in his work and has developmental tools to mold. If he doesn’t have the foot quickness to play tackle, he appears to have the bend and power to give it a go as a guard. Manu could be a late-round pick, but teams will need to be patient with his development.”

Strengths
•    Premium size with lean mass and thick limbs.
•    Plays with good knee bend in pass protection.
•    Snaps hands into place and churns feet through contact.
•    Explosive hips help him get downhill and control the block.
•    Possesses chippy demeanor as a block finisher.

Weaknesses
•    Will be attempting to make major jump in level of competition.
•    Will need to work on reconfiguring his stance.
•    Hands can be too deliberate getting into run blocks.
•    Pass protection fundamentals are way behind where they need to be.
•    Might not have enough range and redirection to play tackle.