Detroit Lions rookie Gio Manu reflects on long journey from Tonga to NFL draft pick

Gio Manu woke up at 4 a.m. Friday and couldn't go back to sleep, too excited about his first NFL practice to catch more shut-eye.

On the bus ride from the player's hotel to the Detroit Lions' Allen Park training facility, Manu sat in the last row and got choked up thinking about how far he'd come.

"I was really emotional," Manu said. "I was tearing up because it’s been such a long journey, man, and just to see me here competing with the best and putting on this jersey, I kind of like find myself looking back at my journey and I tell myself it’s only going to be up from here, so this is just the start."

A fourth-round pick in last month's draft, Manu was one of 42 players and six draft picks on the field Friday for the first day of Lions rookie minicamp.

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He played left tackle. He took a few team reps against the most experienced player in camp, last year's CFL sack leader, Mathieu Betts. And when it was all done, he reflected on his life-altering opportunity.

Born on the small South Pacific island of Tonga, Manu moved to the Vancouver, Canada, area when he was 11 in search of a better life. His mother sent him and his two siblings to live with her sister, who first introduced him to American football.

A rugby player in Tonga, Manu spent five seasons at the University of British Columbia, including a COVID year when the school did not field a team, before emerging this spring as one of the most intriguing developmental projects in the draft.

The Lions traded a future third-round pick to take Manu early on Day 3, and assistant general manager Ray Agnew gushed Friday about Manu's upside.

"What a talented young man," Agnew said. "Here’s a guy that, he’s got a ways to go as a football player but what better place to come in and learn how to be an offensive tackle in the National Football League than playing behind Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker. I mean, he's got time to learn — being coached by Hank Fraley. So, excited about this young man, and it’s more than just his athletic ability. If you meet this young man, he is an outstanding human being first of all. He’s not entitled. He’s appreciative of everything."

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Manu, whose voice cracked at times when he talked Friday, said his motivation to succeed in the NFL is "my family and my will to just get better every day."

His parents have never seen him play football in person, and he said he hopes to bring them to America this summer for the Lions' first preseason game.

"One thing about me is I refuse to get outworked by my peers and my opponents," he said. "That’s one thing I carry myself because the way I look at is if someone outworks me, it stops me from feeding my family and my family means everything to me, so if you’re stopping me from feeding my family that’s just going to add more fuel to my fire. So that’s just the way I approach this."

After practice Friday, Manu said he asked Fraley, the Lions' well-respected offensive line coach, if he could stay on the field and work on some blocking fundamentals.

When Fraley had to head inside to watch film, Manu and the rest of the Lions' linemen stayed back to work on their own.

While veterans are not present at rookie camp and Agnew admitted the competition Manu faced in college was far below NFL level, Manu said his first impression Friday was that "it is definitely not a major jump" to the NFL and would only be "a little jump" for him.

"Guys like (Betts), those are the guys that I found were a little bit more advanced to go against," he said. "But to me it’s — I didn’t feel like I was getting worked. For me, I’m going to continue to come out here every day and keep working hard and it’s going to get to a point where guys like that, I’ll be able to keep up with them."

Manu said he's anxious to face more experienced NFL players like Aidan Hutchinson once organized team activities start later this month, and to learn from veterans such as Sewell and Decker, the Lions' returning starters at right and left tackle.

Sewell, like Manu, is Polynesian, and Manu said he picked No. 59 as his jersey in part because it was one number away from Sewell's 58.

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"I want to be next up," he said. "I want to be the next great Polynesian to come on this O-line. Penei’s 58 and I want to be 59 and one day it’d be sick if I could be 59 on that left side and he’d be 58 on that right side, but also, I picked 59 because it’s my dad’s birth year and it’s his birthday today."

Agnew said the Lions will cross-train Manu to play guard and tackle, though at 6 feet 7 and 354 pounds, Manu has the size and athletic ability to stay on the edge. That's where Manu said he sees his future, and where Agnew expects him to eventually make an impact, too.

"You watched his feet and his athletic ability, the way he competed, the way he finished blocks and it’s like, 'Man, this guy’s got some stuff,'" Agnew said. "He’s a Lion. He’s a Lions football player. He’s built the way we want. He’s the type of player, he’s wired right. I mean, this kid is going to work his butt off.

"Very excited about that young man. Can’t wait to see where he’s going to go in his career. He’s got some development to do, but he’s got a chance to be a really good player in the National Football League."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions rookie Gio Manu has 'chance to be a really good player'