I don’t know if Chicago Bears nickel back Sherrick McManis ever won the IRON CAT competition during his days at Northwestern, but he’s leading the very first session of Nike’s Train Chicago; a very IRON CAT like experience. The Iron Cat is an annual award Northwestern football hands out to the player who wins the weight room.
McManis is a great American success story of re-invention, as he was just a two-star recruit coming out of high school.
Northwestern was one of the few high-majors that was interested, but Sherrick McManis surprised all the experts by being named freshman all-conference. He worked out and his college football career took off. McManis also wasn’t considered a blue chip NFL Draft prospect, but he pushed himself and worked his way into the conversation. The Houston Texans took him in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He was later traded to Chicago for fullback Tyler Cutts.
He’s since worked himself into the Chicago Bears secondary, and really become a key contributor on special teams. His NFL career has included a NFC Special Teams Player of the Week Award from 2012.
McManis is an inspirational figure; now it’s your chance to reach the next level too.
Train Chicago (I participated in the media preview yesterday, here’s a recap of my experience here) events take place each Saturday, May 9-June 13 (May 23 is a bye week) from 10am-12pm. Starting May 12, weekday workout sessions will be scheduled at 6pm each Tuesday and Thursday to complement to the weekly Train Chicago workout.
- May 9: Gridiron-Fit with Chicago Bears Sherrick McManis (go U! NU!)
- May 16: Ice-Fit
- May 30: Diamond-Fit
- June 5: Pitch-Fit
- June 13: Hoop-Fit
- June 20: Final Train Chicago Session hosted by Bo Jackson
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
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