How Max Mang Went from Watching Football on German TV to Joining the Tiger-Cats
Max Mang is described as primarily a pass blocker, but when he does catch a pass and gathers a head of steam, you definitely do not want to be the defender who happens to be in his way.
He can be, in football parlance, a load. In the same way, an anvil dropped from the 10th storey can be a load. Newton’s second law of physics in human form.
The 6-foot-6, 263-pound rookie who grew up in Germany is part of an intriguing Ticats storyline at tight end, a position which head coach Scott Milanovich has repeatedly committed to broaden in scope, responsibilities and creativity. According to the CFL stats department, last season the Ticats were the only team in the league to officially list a Tight End on their game-day roster: Jevoni Robinson, who’s entering his third season in Hamilton, after catching 34 passes for five touchdowns over his first two. He was ahead of Mang on yesterday’s depth chart.
Like Robinson, who grew up in Jamaica, Mang is a Global player—the Ticats’ second-round choice in last year’s Global draft—and, also like Robinson, seemed headed for a career in another sport so didn’t play a single down of football until a comparatively older age.
Although the Ticats have sometimes used tight end formations which are mostly the blocking-only configurations employed by the majority of CFL teams—featuring a classic fullback or even a sixth offensive lineman—Milanovich has leaned more to the “pure” tight end, who can also take a pass while lined up close to the tackle, delaying then releasing into the flats, or splitting wider on the line of scrimmage. It’s more reminiscent of the U.S. game, where tight ends are integral to unpredictable offensive variety. Even when fullbacks Ante Litre or Daniel Bell are in the game, that multitasking is part of their playlist.
“In college (Syracuse), I was mostly used as a blocking tight end, and I’m really good at that, but I think I can also be used in the pass game in every way, shape or form,” Mang said. “I might not be the fastest guy, but I can catch every ball and make every play.
“Talking to coaches, we’re the one team that uses the tight end more classically, which I think matches my skill set very well. Now it’s a matter of learning the plays, learning the rules and stacking it day by day and just getting better.”
It’s a steep learning curve for all U.S.-trained college players to adjust to the three-down game, but Mang is accustomed to steep curves. As Robinson grew up playing basketball and didn’t play football into his 20s, Mang didn’t discover football until he was nearly 16 years old, when he happened to catch a broadcast of the 2014 Super Bowl, in which Seattle annihilated Denver.
“It was one of the first few football games on free TV in Germany, so I wanted to watch it, and from there I wanted to try it,” he said. “So, I went to tryouts for a team near me, the Potsdam Royals. In Germany, it’s not really high school sports; it’s club sports. Before I switched sports, from 10 until I was 16, I was playing volleyball at another club.”
Playing it well enough that he was on the all-state volleyball team. And he was also a proficient table tennis player.
His gridiron interest piqued, Mang began working with Premier Prospects International, founded by former CFL player Brandon Collier. PPI helps promising Europeans find opportunities at U.S. college programs.
He spent five seasons at Syracuse, dressing for every game—as a special teamer as a freshman, then on both specials and offence—from 2020-24.
There’s a long connection between Syracuse and Hamilton sports: among others, Hall of Famers Bernie Custis and Tony Gabriel played for the Orange, as did basketball star Raquel Nurse.
“I wasn’t aware of that, but I am now,” Mang said. “I’ll be looking into it.”
He’s only been here a week, so he’s still transitioning to a new country, new rules, new field dimensions, a new team and new footwork, with so much space looming on his outside shoulder.
“It’s definitely interesting with the D-line being a yard back, and I’m getting used to it more and more,” Mang says. “I think it’s just getting reps and plays against a defence, just seeing what works and what needs work.
“I like the way you can motion. It seems more offensive-friendly, which benefits me.”
CATS CLAUSES
Roster paring comes quickly
With five players released and three others placed on the suspended list over the weekend after rookie mini-camp, the Ticats opened their first full practice Monday with 91 players on the field
Before midnight Thursday, CFL teams pare down to 75 players, excluding non-counters. The bulk of the “non-counters” comes from the recent draft class. Final CFL season-opening rosters are set by May 30.
There were more than we can list
Some pretty impressive moments on Day 1 included a long corner-route completed pass from Bo Levi Mitchell, which feathered into Kiondré Smith’s hands; repeated fierce battles on the outsides between Jamal Peters and Kenny Lawler and Zamari Walton and Keric Wheatfall; the assertive and loud communication from MIKE linebacker Wynton McManis; a pick-six; exemplary soaring coffin-corner punts from Global Nick Haberer; and pursuit of the ball till the whistle across the entire roster, exemplified by linebacker Braxton Hill, among many others.
Hello World: Vocal leadership can be hard on the voice
Wynton McManis, a marquee free agency acquisition after twice being All-CFL with the Argos, winning two Grey Cups with Toronto and one with Bo Levi Mitchell in Calgary, made a positive and vocal impression on the first day of camp.
You could hear him directing traffic, and one of his phrases that resonated around the stadium was “Hello World!”.
Meaning?
“Where I am,” he said. “Just kind of a way to let everybody know I’m popping up and I’m everywhere at the same time.”
McManis, who’s expected to elevate the Ticats’ tackling, said that his voice had become gravelly from shouting over the strong wind to make sure his messages were heard. He knows he’s already a team leader, and accepts that, but adds:
“Some of the goals that I have set for myself—just to try to be better in any way I can—I think this team’s goals line up with what I have set for myself. Everybody is on the same page, so I think we’re on the right track.
“To be honest, I think this team is going to have a bigger impact on myself. Just learning from a lot of different guys here. There’s a great veteran presence here. So, you know, just bond. Opening my eyes up to new things and learning new skills. So, they’re probably helping me more than I am them.”
This Cat came back…to continue his coaching education
Former Ticat Myles Manalo is back with the team during training camp as part of the CFL’s Diversity in Football program. Each CFL team has one player in the program for four weeks, giving them job experience and training from senior personnel in football operations.
Manalo is in his second year as special teams coordinator for the Western Mustangs, so he is spending most of his time at Cat camp soaking up knowledge from new special teams coordinator Bob Dyce and assistant James Tuck.
“It’s a great opportunity to learn from Bob and James, it’s going to help a lot,” says the 26-year-old from Burlington.
Manalo was with the Ticats from 2021-23, as a linebacker, fullback and special teams player, contributing two special teams tackles. The Ticats drafted him in the sixth round of 2021 from the Western Mustangs, where he had been a linebacker before switching to fullback in his final season.
He played age-class football for the Burlington Stampeders and then at Corpus Christi High School. He returned to Corpus Christi to help coach them to their first-ever OFSAA bowl title in 2024, a 13-10 win over powerful A.N. Myer of Niagara Falls in the Golden Horseshoe Bowl.
Former wide receiver Bralon Addison, who had two stints with the Ticats before retiring in March as an Ottawa Redblack, is also in the Diversity in Football program, working as a coach with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers this month.
