PHILADELPHIA – Temple senior tight end
Steve Maneri (Saddle Brook, N.J.) has accepted an invitation to participate in the Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Challenge at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, Feb. 6. The game will be nationally televised by CBS College Sports, beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
He joins teammates LB
Alex Joseph (Stamford, Conn.) and NT
Andre Neblett (Rahway, N.J.) on the Nation’s roster. The trio are the most Owls to play in an all-star game since 1945 when QB
Jack Burns, HB
Phil Slosburg, and HB
Gene Zawoiski played in the Blue-Gray Football Classic.
The fourth annual All-Star game will be coached by Howard Schnellenberger, head coach for the Nation, and Bill Bates, head coach for Texas.
Maneri earned the team’s 2009 Captains’ Award and the John Rienstra Award for excellence in off-season conditioning. A third-team All-MAC honoree, the team captain started all 13 games at tight end. Mostly blocking on the line, he added 12 receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns, including a 26-yard TD reception against UCLA in the EagleBank Bowl.
Maneri, who will wear jersey #83, is the fifth Temple player to participate in the Texas vs. The Nation All-star Challenge. In 2009, first-team All-MAC DT Terrance Knighton played for Team Nation. Offensive lineman Elliot Seifert played in the inaugural game in 2007.
The Owls begin spring practice on Tuesday, March 16 in preparation for their fourth season of Mid-American Conference play in 2010. The squad’s annual Cherry & White spring game is slated for Saturday, April 17. Temple (9-4, 7-1 MAC) concluded the 2009 season with a trip to the EagleBank Bowl, its first bowl appearance in 30 years. The Owls won a single-season record nine consecutive games en route to the MAC East co-championship.
For more information, visit
www.texasvsthenation.com.