Visanthe O. Shiancoe (/vɪˈsɑːnθ ˈʃæŋkoʊ/; born June 18, 1980) is a British-American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for the Morgan State Bears, he was selected by the New York Giants in the third round of the 2003 NFL draft. He played for the Giants for four seasons from 2003 to 2006 and the Minnesota Vikings for five seasons from 2007 to 2011. He played for the New England Patriots in 2012 and the Tennessee Titans in 2013.
 Shiancoe with the Minnesota Vikings in 2009 | |||||||||
| No. 82, 81, 80 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | June 18, 1980 Birmingham, England | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Montgomery Blair (Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.) | ||||||||
| College: | Morgan State (1999–2002) | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2003 / round: 3 / pick: 91 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Early life
editShiancoe was born in Birmingham, England to a Liberian mother and a Ghanaian father. As an infant, he emigrated to the United States with his mother, settling in Silver Spring, Maryland.[1]
Shiancoe played high school football for Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring.[2] He attended Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland where he transformed himself from a 190-pound freshman to a 250-pound senior tight end.[3]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 4+3⁄8 in (1.94 m) |
251 lb (114 kg) |
33+1⁄2 in (0.85 m) |
10+1⁄4 in (0.26 m) |
4.68 s | 1.62 s | 2.71 s | 4.31 s | 7.09 s | 39.5 in (1.00 m) |
10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) |
28 reps | |
| All values from NFL Combine[4] | ||||||||||||
New York Giants
editShiancoe was selected in the third round (91st overall) in the 2003 NFL draft by the New York Giants.[5] He played for the Giants for four seasons, mostly serving as a backup to Jeremy Shockey.[6]
Minnesota Vikings
editShiancoe signed a five-year, $18.2 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent in 2007.[6] He compiled 208 receptions for 2,424 yards and 24 touchdowns in his five seasons as a Viking, in regular season games. Shiancoe played in all 80 games over those five seasons, of which he started 66.[7] He led NFC tight ends with seven touchdowns in 2008 and ranked third by a tight end in the NFL.[8]
New England Patriots
editShiancoe agreed to a one-year deal with the New England Patriots on July 24, 2012, reportedly worth $1.2 million.[9] He was activated on November 11, 2012, after an injury to Aaron Hernandez and a suspension of Brandon Bolden. On December 11, 2012, he was released.[10]
Baltimore Ravens
editOn July 28, 2013, Shiancoe signed a one-year deal to play for the Baltimore Ravens. The contract was considered a "qualifying contract" under which Shiancoe stood to make the veteran minimum for a player with 10 or more years of service ($940,000) while counting as only $555,000 against the Ravens' salary cap.[11] The signing was prompted by a season-ending hip injury suffered during training camp by Dennis Pitta.[12] After less than a month on the team, Shiancoe was released after the third week of preseason on August 25, 2013.[13]
Tennessee Titans
editOn December 3, 2013, Shiancoe signed with the Tennessee Titans.[14] On December 10, the Titans released Shiancoe.[15]
NFL career statistics
edit| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 2003 | NYG | 16 | 7 | 23 | 10 | 56 | 5.6 | 10 | 2 |
| 2004 | NYG | 16 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 25 | 5.0 | 9 | 1 |
| 2005 | NYG | 16 | 5 | 17 | 8 | 91 | 11.4 | 17 | 0 |
| 2006 | NYG | 16 | 4 | 14 | 12 | 81 | 6.8 | 16 | 0 |
| 2007 | MIN | 16 | 15 | 43 | 27 | 323 | 12.0 | 79 | 1 |
| 2008 | MIN | 16 | 15 | 59 | 42 | 596 | 14.2 | 40 | 7 |
| 2009 | MIN | 16 | 13 | 79 | 56 | 566 | 10.1 | 27 | 11 |
| 2010 | MIN | 16 | 9 | 79 | 47 | 530 | 11.3 | 33 | 2 |
| 2011 | MIN | 16 | 14 | 70 | 36 | 409 | 11.4 | 37 | 3 |
| 2012 | NWE | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | TEN | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 |
| 149 | 90 | 394 | 245 | 2,679 | 10.9 | 79 | 27 | ||
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 2005 | NYG | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2006 | NYG | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2008 | MIN | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2009 | MIN | 2 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 94 | 18.8 | 26 | 1 |
| 5 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 109 | 13.6 | 26 | 1 | ||
Television appearances
editShiancoe was a contestant on NBC's Minute to Win It on September 8, 2010, playing to win money for the National Kidney Foundation.[16] When he could not perform the card trick, where he had to blow off a deck of 53 playing cards with one joker at the bottom remaining on the bottle in a minute, he successfully performed the same trick on NFL Network again in less than 30 seconds, only to realize that the final Joker card was glued on.[17]
Towel incident
editFox aired a post game segment following a victory over the Detroit Lions in 2008. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf was presenting the game ball to coach Brad Childress' son, Andrew, who had enlisted in the United States Marine Corps the day before. In the background, Shiancoe was shown unclothed for a moment before covering himself with a towel. According to the NFL and Fox Sports, the image lasted a fifth of a second.[18] Fox Sports apologized for airing the image.[19] Through his agent, Shiancoe said he was embarrassed by the unintentional incident.[20]
Personal life
editShiancoe currently resides in Prince George's County, Maryland.[21] Although his first name has been commonly mispronounced as vi-SAWN-tee (/vɪˈsɑːntiː/) or vi-SAWN-tae (/vɪˈsɑːnteɪ/) he has clarified that the correct pronunciation is vi-SAWNTH (/vɪˈsɑːnθ/).[22][23]
He plans to become involved in causes in his mother's home country of Liberia.[24]
References
edit- ^ Janis, Robert. "Visanthe Shiancoe". www.visantheshiancoe.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
- ^ Lambrecht, Gary (September 25, 2002). "NFL scouts find Morgan on map". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
- ^ Lewis, Albert (February 2, 2005). "Former Bear Gives Back In Giant Way". Morgan State University Athletic Department. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
- ^ "2003 NFL Draft Scout Visanthe Shiancoe College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
- ^ "2003 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
- ^ a b Vacchiano, Ralph (November 23, 2007). "Catching up with former Giant tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, now with Vikings". Daily News (New York). Archived from the original on September 3, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
- ^ "Visanthe Shiancoe stats". Pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
- ^ "Visanthe Shiancoe bio". Vikings.com. Minnesota Vikings. Archived from the original on November 26, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
- ^ Smith, Michael David (July 24, 2012). "Patriots sign Visanthe Shiancoe". ProFootballTalk.com. NBC Sports. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
- ^ "Patriots place WR Donte' Stallworth on IR; Release TE Visanthe Shiancoe". patriots.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
- ^ Wilson, Aaron (August 6, 2013). "Ravens need Visanthe Shiancoe right away with Ed Dickson's hamstring injury". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
- ^ "Ravens sign Visanthe Shiancoe". ESPN. July 29, 2013. Archived from the original on August 6, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
- ^ Mink, Ryan (August 25, 2013). "Ravens Release 12 Players". BaltimoreRavens.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ^ Twitter / TennesseeTitans: The #Titans have agreed to terms with fullback Quinn Johnson & tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.
- ^ Twitter / TennesseeTitans: The #Titans have re-signed offensive lineman Kevin Matthews and released tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.
- ^ "Breaking News - NBC's 'Minute to Win It' to Air Special NFL Themed Episodes September 7 & 8 Leading Up to NBC's NFL Kickoff on September 9". TheFutonCritic.com. August 19, 2010. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ "NFL Football Highlights, Clips & Analysis". NFL.com.
- ^ Pucin, Diane (December 8, 2008). "Not the kind of exposure Visanthe Shiancoe wanted". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Zulgad, Judd (December 7, 2008). "Fox apologizes for showing unclothed Viking". Star Tribune.
- ^ "Naked truth on Vikes TE". Chicago Sun-Times. Associated Press. December 9, 2008. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008.
- ^ Zrebiec, Jeff (July 28, 2013). "With Dennis Pitta out for the year, Ravens add Visanthe Shiancoe to roster". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
- ^ Davis, Nate (February 17, 2011). "Vikings' Shiancoe clarifies pronunciation of his name ... sort of". USA Today. Archived from the original on November 9, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
- ^ Carlyle, Erin (September 8, 2010). "How do you pronounce 'Visanthe Shiancoe'?". City Pages. Archived from the original on January 20, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
- ^ "Visanthe Shiancoe 'In the Game'". Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
External links
edit- Official website Archived May 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- Visanthe Shiancoe on Twitter
- Minnesota Vikings bio Archived November 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
