EAST RUTHERFORD — Giants fans may know Chris Manhertz as one of multiple tight ends in their team’s offense — most notably one of only two players to catch a touchdown in the Giants’ five home games this season. But what many people don’t know is that the 10th-year NFL veteran never even played football until after he graduated college. The 6-foot-6 Manhertz played four years of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference basketball and was a three-time captain at Canisius College. “I’m not gonna lie to you: I didn’t watch football growing up, I didn’t play football growing up,” Manhertz said recently in the Giants’ locker room. “It was never a thought. I had sights just playing basketball. In high school, they kind of nudged me to try to play football. I was not interested. It never was on my radar.” In an unconventional twist of fate, a scout with the Buffalo Bills — located about 20 miles south of Canisius — reached out to Manhertz about the possibility of switching to football. Manhertz was focused at the time on pursing a basketball career — possibly playing overseas because he was too undersized to be an NBA big man — but he was open-minded about the opportunity to train his body to play a different sport. “Buffalo is a small town. I guess word gets around that there’s a guy that’s big, he’s athletic; it’s worth just kicking the tires in,” Manhertz said. “It was surprising to me. I just gave it a shot.” Manhertz admits that it took a while for him to love football because it was such a complex transition. He was in an accelerated program trying to learn so many nuances of the sport, and he was ultimately competing against players who had been in football for their entire lives. The Bills thought he was best-suited for tight end. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, he figured, so he honed in on that skillset with a limited amount of time to become good enough to play professionally. “A lot of that training was just football 101, just learning formations, learning to run routes, learning to catch the ball,” Manhertz said. “I started from the ground level, so part of the deal was having somebody that was patient enough to allow me time to blossom and develop, because as you know in this league, the turnover is really fast and you kind of have to create certain opportunities for you to stick around.” A year after his college graduation, Manhertz signed a reserve/future contract with the Bills in May of 2015, which essentially gave him a spot in training camp. He was cut at the end of the preseason but then signed with the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad. Manhertz made his NFL regular-season debut Sept. 18, 2016 against the Giants, and when the Saints released him a month later, the Carolina Panthers claimed him off waivers. He spent the next four-plus seasons with the Panthers before latching on with the Jacksonville Jaguars for two years, with the Denver Broncos last year, and now finally with the Giants as a 32-year-old. “When I first started, yes, I didn’t think it would last this long,” said Manhertz, who added that the speed of the NFL began to slow down for him around his third year. “But as you play longer, you kind of develop your skillset, develop confidence in your skillset and the work that you put in, and over time it’s more of an expectation for you to be in the league year in and year out and be able to add value to whatever team you’re on. So for me, it’s just a matter of doing the little things right and staying healthy.” New York Giants tight end Chris Manhertz (85) runs after a catch during an NFL football game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Durisko) Giants head coach Brian Daboll calls Manhertz a “consummate pro” who not only plays a vital role with his toughness in the trenches but has been a leader for the team’s younger tight ends: rookie Theo Johnson and third-year pro Daniel Bellinger. “For an older guy, he’s out there practicing every day, never misses a beat,” Daboll said. “I think everyone in the room, both on the offense and the defensive side, have a very high respect for him of how he goes about his business.” There was a time when Manhertz thought he would be catching passes like Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates, who also exclusively played basketball in college but did play football in high school. Tony Gonzalez and Jimmy Graham were other inspirations who had played both sports in college. Manhertz ended up carving a different path. Throughout his career he has been primarily a blocking tight end with 27 catches for 273 yards and three touchdowns. But protecting the edge in the passing game and opening holes in the running game can also be assets to NFL teams, even if you’re usually not in the spotlight. “Most of that just came from me just figuring out a way to stay on a roster, because obviously most tight ends are required to catch,” Manhertz said. “A lot of them can’t block at the level that’s needed and trusted for coaches to really have them at the point of attack, so I kind of looked at that as an opportunity for me to really separate myself.” As a former tight ends coach who has been with NFL organizations since the turn of the century, Daboll appreciates Manhertz’s ability to find a niche in what has become a lost art. “You can’t see why he’s played in the league for as long as he’s played in the league,” Daboll said. “That type of player at the tight end position, there’s not a lot of them out there nowadays. It’s someone who puts the team first … does a lot of the dirty work for our offense, and it has really helped us in terms of the running game and some of the action plays where we’re able to attempt to pass the ball down the field.” Although Manhertz has started 59 games in the NFL, he has never played more than 49 percent of the snaps for a team’s offense in a season. He also has lower mileage from beginning football later in life, so that, coupled with taking care of his body with proper treatment, nutrition and sleep, has allowed him to have a prosperous career. He hasn’t missed a game due to injury since he had a concussion five years ago. The Bronx native has relished being back home with the Giants since his family can attend all of the home games. He typically lines up in multiple tight end packages and is a sneaky red-zone threat. He scored a 2-yard touchdown on a play-action pass from Daniel Jones in the Giants’ loss to the Commanders on Nov. 3 at MetLife Stadium. Manhertz also set a key block on Tyrone Tracy’s 32-yard touchdown run when the Giants fell to the Panthers on Sunday in Germany. And he will continue to do whatever it takes to be successful in football, even if it often goes unnoticed by the average fan. “You’re talking to a guy that’s statistically not supposed to be in the NFL,” Manhertz said. “What are the odds that you never play and you pick up a football and play? So for me, whatever role is necessary to help the team win, that’s more than enough for me.”