Lucky break helped Mangold on road to becoming 1 of NFL’s top centers

Mangold is solid as man in middle of Jets’ O-line

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Nick Mangold was in seventh grade when he started on the path to becoming one of the NFL’s best centers.

The center on his junior high school team broke a hand and the coach desperately needed someone to snap the ball.

“I said, ‘Shoot, I’ll try,’” Mangold said. “I’ve been a center ever since.”

Mangold doesn’t remember that poor kid’s name, but the New York Jets and coach Rex Ryan sure are happy about that lucky break.

“He’s the best center in the league,” Ryan said. “I wouldn’t trade him for another center in this league.”

Mangold is in his fourth season with New York, already has a Pro Bowl appearance on his resume, and has taken nearly every offensive snap since being drafted 29th overall in 2006.

“Yeah, I’ve been fortunate,” Mangold said. “I’ve got to go knock on some wood now.”

For the Jets, Mangold has been the reliable man in the middle of a solid offensive line that includes former Pro Bowl selections left guard Alan Faneca and right tackle Damien Woody, promising left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson, and steady right guard Brandon Moore.

“He’s the anchor,” said Woody, a former Pro Bowl center. “He can anchor it down and really hold down the fort inside.”

Oh, and he’s also one of the real characters on a unit filled with them.

“He’s a complainer,” Faneca said with a big grin. “And if you ask him, he would probably say he’d agree. It’s just his nature.”

So, Nick?

“I’d have to concur,” Mangold said, laughing. “I don’t complain in a bad way, though. I just like to make sure every little thing is voiced. I’m not as bad as Brandon Moore, though. He’s the king of complainers. I’m the court jester.”

The 6-foot-4, 305-pound Mangold is also one of the more recognizable guys on the field, even with his helmet on. With his blond locks flowing to his shoulders, Mangold looks like a figure out of Norse mythology.

“I like that hair,” Ryan said with a smile. “It’s good.”

Mangold said it’s not a Samson-like thing, but he hasn’t had a real cut in about three years.

“I just like it long and I can’t come to grips with cutting it,” he said. “I figure, I have it and somewhere along the line I won’t have it, so I might as well enjoy it while it’s still here.”

He also got some TV time during Super Bowl week, appearing on “Rachael Ray” in a cooking contest with other NFL players. His beanless chili recipe lost to Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard’s Buffalo chicken dip.

“I got screwed,” Mangold said, laughing. “Anybody and everybody has had a Buffalo chicken dip before. I’m hoping I’ll get a chance for revenge.”

Ferguson, the fourth overall pick in 2006, struck up a friendship with Mangold at the Senior Bowl. Mangold even had Ferguson in his wedding party a few years ago.

“He’s got such a great personality,” Ferguson said. “I was like, ‘Man, this is a really cool dude.’ We clicked even before we knew we were going to be drafted together.”

Despite all the levity, the unit has been all business on Sundays as one of the league’s best while the Jets seek to establish a ground-and-pound style of offense.

“With Nick, we’re able to do things that some of the smaller guys aren’t able to do,” Woody said. “Sometimes we ask Nick to block guys one on one and a lot of times, you don’t see that with centers. A lot of times, they need help. We’re able to change up our scheme accordingly.”

Mangold has been called for very few penalties in his career while also handling the line calls.

“He can do it all,” Ryan said.

Faneca, in his 12th NFL season and second with the Jets, thinks Mangold is off to a great start.

“He’s scratched it, but three years in, man, you’re still a baby,” Faneca said. “He’s only going to get better with time and he’s going to be able to pick up more things, learn more tools and tricks of the trade and just keep adding more to his game.”

Mangold has made seamless transitions while quarterbacks have come and gone during his career. He had three at Ohio State, and has also snapped to Chad Pennington, Kellen Clemens, Brett Favre and now rookie Mark Sanchez with the Jets.

Mangold hopes to have Sanchez running things behind him for years.

“It’s definitely coming along with Mark,” Mangold said. “I’m pretty sure I can snap the ball to just about anybody, no matter who they put back there. From having so many different people back there, I’ve gotten pretty good, I guess, at making sure that ball’s always in the same spot.”