Mohamed Sanu Sr. (born August 22, 1989) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft. Sanu has also been a member of the Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, and the Miami Dolphins.
Originally from Sayreville, New Jersey, Sanu was born to a Muslim family and also lived in his parents' native Sierra Leone as a child. Sanu returned to the United States and lived in Dayton, New Jersey, where he eventually starred at South Brunswick High School as a triple option quarterback before enrolling at Rutgers University in 2009. In his final season at South Brunswick High School, Sanu led the Vikings to their first playoff berth in nearly 40 years, including three rushing touchdowns of at least 80 yards against Edison High School.
He was ruled ineligible to play during his senior year, due to exceeding NJSIAA's age restriction; he graduated from high school six months early and enrolled at Rutgers University in January 2009. In track & field, Sanu was one of the state's top performers in the jumping events. At the 2008 NJSIAA Sectional Championships, he placed 2nd in the triple jump (14.08 m) and 3rd in the long jump (6.43 meters). He also competed as a sprinter, recording personal-best times of 6.94 seconds in the 55 metres and 24.28 seconds in the 200 meters at the 2008 Merli Invitational. He is a fan of soccer, and supports West Ham United.
As a true freshman wide receiver Sanu had 51 receptions for 639 yards and three touchdowns; he also ran 62 times for 346 yards and five touchdowns out of the Wildcat formation. Sanu was the first-ever true freshman to start at wide receiver for Rutgers under coach Greg Schiano, and won Most Valuable Player honors at the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl. In 2010, Sanu was a consensus preseason All-Big East wide receiver. In 2011 he tied a Big East record with 13 receptions against North Carolina. The next week, he broke his own record by catching 16 passes. In 2011, Sanu broke the Big East single-season reception record with 115 receptions for 1,206 yards, a record previously held by Pitt's Larry Fitzgerald.
On September 23, 2012, against the Washington Redskins, Sanu came in as the wildcat quarterback out of a shotgun formation for the Bengals on the first play from scrimmage of the game and threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to A. J. Green. This not only made him the first Bengals wide receiver ever to throw a touchdown pass, but it also gave him a touchdown pass before his first NFL reception.
Sanu had his first touchdown catch during Week 10 against the New York Giants. He finished the game with four receptions for 47 yards. During Week 12 against the Oakland Raiders, Sanu had five receptions for 29 yards and two touchdowns in the 34–10 victory for his first NFL game with multiple touchdowns. On November 30, 2012, it was announced that Sanu had season-ending surgery to repair a stress fracture.
In 2014, Sanu partnered a venture with Fantex, Inc., in which Fantex offered an IPO of tracking stock based upon Sanu's future earnings in return for giving Fantex a 10% share of future earnings from his brand. The offering was completed in November 2014, in which 164,300 shares were sold at $10 per share.
In the 2014 season, Sanu played a much bigger role in the Bengals offense due to injuries to receivers A. J. Green and Marvin Jones. Sanu recorded two 100-yard games in 2014. During Week 2, he recorded a career-long 76-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Andy Dalton in the 24–10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. In the next game against the Tennessee Titans, Sanu threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Dalton in the 33–7 victory.
On March 10, 2016, Sanu signed a five-year, $32.5 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons.
On October 22, 2019, Sanu was traded to the New England Patriots in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
Sanu was placed on the active/physically unable to perform list at the start of training camp on August 2, 2020, and was activated from the list two days later. On September 3, Sanu was released by the Patriots.
On September 18, 2020, Sanu signed with the San Francisco 49ers. He was released on October 6, 2020.
On November 6, 2020, Sanu was signed to the Detroit Lions practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on November 21 for the team's Week 11 game against the Carolina Panthers, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. Sanu was promoted to the active roster on November 25, 2020. He finished the 2020 season with 17 receptions for 187 yards and one touchdown, which came in Week 12 against the Houston Texans.
On March 30, 2021, Sanu re-signed with the 49ers. He played in eight games before being placed on injured reserve on November 15. He was activated on January 26, 2022. He finished the 2021 season with 15 receptions for 177 yards in eight games.
On July 26, 2022, Sanu signed with the Miami Dolphins. He was released on August 29, 2022.