Georgia football: The amazing story of Mohammed Massaqoui
By Mike Stowe
Mohamed Massaquoi is one of the best Georgia football receivers of all-time. He had 2,282 career receiving yards including 920 yards as a senior in 2008.
I remember seeing Mohamed Massaquoi on TV and in person during his time at UGA. He was a good receiver with good hands. He always seemed like an NFL talent to me. Massaquoi had good size and was a consistent performer.
My personal favorite play of his was in the 2006 game against Georgia Tech which won the game for the Dawgs. It was a bullet thrown into double coverage by a young Matt Stafford and led to yet another classic Larry Munson call.
Massaquoi stayed productive during his 4 years at UGA, living up to his 4 star rating as a high school player. He averaged over 10 yards per reception in every year as a Dawg. His best year came in his last, as he gained 920 yards from 58 receptions. I believed he would gain some NFL attention based on his consistency as a receiver, and I was correct in assuming so.
The Cleveland Browns selected Massaquoi in the second round of the 2009 draft. His short NFL career mirrored his college career. He played 4 seasons with the Browns and averaged 18.4 yards per catch as a rookie. He had the privilege of having a pretty good college career and a pretty good pro one as well.
Massaquoi experienced multiple concussions during his time in the NFL. While those were no doubt painful and surely had something to do with his pro career being a short one, they wouldn’t affect him like the injury he experienced while riding ATVs with friends.
He thought he had simply broken his hand, but the injury was unfortunately much worse. This is a truly amazing story, and one that I couldn’t do justice by trying to put into words.
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It’s amazing to me the outlook men like Massaquoi have. It’s truly inspiring to see someone who has experienced such a traumatic injury and still has such a positive outlook on life. While playing football is a part of his past now, sports remain a part of his life. He is now a sports businessman who works with other athletes and a sports app called “GameOn“.