Seahawks intrigued by Mansfield Wrotto
DAVE BOLING; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
KIRKLAND – As a versatile young lineman with some intriguing physical skills, Mansfield Wrotto may be gaining relevance to the Seattle Seahawks.
With Chris Spencer and Chris Gray dealing with injuries, Wrotto has been tossed into the mix at center and shows some aptitude for the challenge.
All that is still a bit secondary in interest to the way in which Wrotto reached this point, which is a compelling tale of a family’s flight to escape civil violence in Africa, and its willingness to start over with nothing in America except the promise of freedom.
Two years into the Liberian civil war (which ultimately resulted in the deaths of an estimated 200,000 citizens), Wrotto’s family left everything behind and eventually ended up in Georgia.
“I was 6, and I remember certain things,” Wrotto said after Sunday morning’s training camp practice. “My parents realized the dangers as the situation was escalating.”
His father, also named Mansfield, was a manager of a company that produced rubber for tires, and his mother was a nurse at a hospital.
“We had a very good life in Liberia,” Wrotto said. “We had a lot of things that would be considered luxuries in the United States, a chauffeur, a maid, a chef. We started over entirely in a two-bedroom apartment in Georgia, relying on friends and family to build each other up.”
Wrotto’s acculturation was quick, and he was talked into football in the early grades because he was naturally big and strong. He ended up as a starting defensive tackle at Georgia Tech, where he rolled to a degree in management (finance and accounting) in four years with a 3.0 GPA.
The 6-foot-3, 310-pound Wrotto was converted to offensive tackle as a senior, and then drafted as a guard by the Hawks (with a fourth-round pick received in trade for receiver Darrell Jackson).
Now, he’s getting a shot at center. Aside from having the intelligence that helps centers manage the offensive line calls, Wrotto has a quick setup and a wide, balanced base after the snap.
“Manny’s working hard to develop,” offensive line coach Mike Solari said. “We need him to have the flexibility to play center also. In the NFL, with limited numbers on game day, until an interior guy is a starter, he’s got to be able to play multiple positions.
“He’s got some nice physical skills; he’s athletic, he has a strong lower body, and he has good functional strength,” Solari said. “He can block in space and he can pull and do a lot of the things we like to do in this offense.”
Because there’s so much to learn, Wrotto said that with his free time he basically “lives in the playbook.”
“The center has got to know all the positions across the line, and being so new to it I’m still trying to learn a lot of things … but I think I’m getting better.”
For now, he doesn’t venture far outside the playbook, even when time permits.
“I’m a pretty quiet person, not a nightclub person,” he said. “I will hang out with the other offensive linemen or watch movies with a couple guys or play video games.”
Almost every answer from Wrotto includes a “yes, sir,” or a well-articulated and thoughtful response. He’s respectful and so obviously appreciative of his situation … something he learned a long time ago from his parents.
“Stay humble,” he said of their message to him. “My parents raised me right; they taught me that high character is the most important thing in life.
If anything happens, you just try to be good, try to do the right thing, and everything will work out. So far, with the grace of God, it has.”
Standing on an NFL practice field, with a solid future ahead, Wrotto didn’t really have to expand much on that point.
“To get a chance to play at Georgia Tech, to make it to the Seahawks … what an experience … what an opportunity … what a gift!”
Dave Boling: 253-597-8440
dave.boling@thenewstribune.com
