Dexter Manley

{{Infobox NFL biography

| image = Washington Commanders Reveal Dexter Manley (cropped).jpg

| caption = Manley in 2022

| position = Defensive end

| number = 72, 92

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|2|2|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 3

| weight_lbs = 253

| draftyear = 1981

| draftround = 5

| draftpick = 119

| high_school = Yates (Houston)

| college = Oklahoma State

| teams =

Washington Redskins ({{NFL Year|1981}}–{{NFL Year|1989}})
Phoenix Cardinals ({{NFL Year|1990}})
Tampa Bay Buccaneers ({{NFL Year|1991}})
Ottawa Rough Riders ({{CFL Year|1992}}–{{CFL Year|1993}})
Shreveport Pirates ({{CFL Year|1994}})

| statlabel1 = Sacks

| statvalue1 = 97.5

| statlabel2 = Interceptions

| statvalue2 = 2

| statlabel3 = Touchdowns

| statvalue3 = 1

| highlights =

| pfr = M/ManlDe00

}}

Dexter Keith Manley (born February 2, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Washington Redskins. He also played for the Phoenix Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as well as in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Ottawa Rough Riders. Manley played college football for the Oklahoma State Cowboys and was selected by the Redskins in the fifth round of the 1981 NFL draft.

Professional football career

=National Football League=

Manley was drafted in the fifth round (119th overall) of the 1981 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins, where he played for nine seasons. During his career with the Redskins, Manley won two Super Bowl titles and was a Pro Bowler in 1986 when he recorded a Redskins single-season record of 18.5 sacks.

In 1989, Manley failed his third drug test, with an opportunity to apply for reinstatement after one year.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/22/sports/sports-of-the-times-why-manley-why-now.html | work=The New York Times | title=Why Manley? Why Now? | first=Ira | last=Berkow | date=November 22, 1989 | access-date=May 1, 2010}} He then played for the Phoenix Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, after he failed his fourth drug test, he retired on December 12, 1991.{{cite news|title=Dexter Manley Arrested Again|url=http://www.ndsn.org/march95/manley.html|access-date=March 7, 2006|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 5, 1995}}{{Ref|banned}} He had a series of arrests related to his drug problem and was ultimately convicted and served two years in prison.{{cite web | title=Dexter Manley released after two years in prison | website=ESPN.com | date=2004-03-05 | url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=1751808 | access-date=2022-08-16}}

Officially, Manley had 97.5 quarterback sacks in his career. His total rises to 103.5 when the six sacks he had his rookie year of 1981, when sacks were not yet an official statistic, are included.{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/espn/print?id=1320043&type=story|title=Standing up for Manley|work=espn.com}} After his career in the United States ended, he revealed that he was functionally illiterate, despite having studied at Oklahoma State University for four years.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/28/sports/views-of-sport-how-illiteracy-makes-athletes-run.html?pagewanted=1 | work=The New York Times | title=Views of Sport; How Illiteracy Makes Athletes Run | first1=Diana | last1=Nyad | date=May 28, 1989 | access-date=May 1, 2010}}

=Canadian Football League=

Manley also played two seasons in the CFL with the Ottawa Rough Riders (1992 and 1993).{{Cite web |title=Former NFL, CFL star Dexter Manley hospitalized with COVID-19 – |url=https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/former-nfl-cfl-star-dexter-manley-hospitalized-with-covid-19/ |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=www.americanfootballinternational.com |language=en-US}}

Personal life

He was nicknamed the "Secretary of Defense" during his time with the Redskins.{{cite news| url= https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/26/sports/pro-football-for-manley-life-without-football-is-impossible-to-tackle.html | work=The New York Times | title=For Manley, Life Without Football Is Impossible to Tackle | first=Tom | last=Friend | date=February 26, 1995 | access-date=May 1, 2010}} He resides in suburban Washington with his family.

Manley underwent brain surgery in June 2006 to treat a colloid cyst. He first learned about the cyst in 1986 after he collapsed in a Georgetown, Washington, D.C. department store. His prognosis was for a relatively full recovery, although doctors have said that memory loss is a common side effect of the operation.

In May 2020, it was announced that Manley had tested positive for COVID-19.{{cite web |title= Hopeful News on Redskins Legend Dexter Manley | first= Chris | last= Russell | date= May 16, 2020 |url= https://www.si.com/nfl/redskins/news/hopeful-news-on-redskins-legend-dexter-manley |website= Sports Illustrated; SI.com | accessdate= November 25, 2023}}

In "The Shame of College Sports", a 2011 article in The Atlantic by Taylor Branch (prior to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Education, Arts, and Humanities in 1989), Manley was famously quoted as saying that he had been functionally illiterate in college.{{cite web| title= The Shame of College Sports| url= https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/308643/ | first= Taylor | last= Branch |work= The Atlantic| access-date=February 18, 2021| date= October 2011}}