This NFL puzzle ran on Aug 10, 2026. The task was to connect Derrick Thomas to Mario Manningham with a chain of real players. The objective: “Your chain must include a Maryland alum.” Par was 3 links.
Derrick Thomas (LB) played in the NFL from 1990 to 1999. A one-team career, spent with the Kansas City Chiefs (1990 to 1999). College: Alabama. Honors in the dataset: Defensive Rookie of the Year. As the Start of the chain, a household name like this gives you a lot of teammates to branch from, which makes it a friendly place to begin.
Mario Manningham (WR) played in the NFL from 2008 to 2013. Career stops: the New York Giants (2008 to 2011) and the San Francisco 49ers (2012 to 2013). College: Michigan. As the Finish of the chain, a household name like this gives you a lot of teammates to branch from, which makes it a friendly place to begin.
Derrick Thomas and Mario Manningham do not share a team or a college, so there is no direct link. You need at least one connector in between, and the objective decides which ones are allowed to count.
This was a college objective. The chain has to pass through a player from the named school at some point, not necessarily as a link to the Start or Finish. Of the 17,973 players in the pool, 168 satisfy it. The best known are Shawne Merriman (OLB, 2005 to 2012), Stefon Diggs (WR, 2015 to 2026), Vernon Davis (TE, 2006 to 2019), Boomer Esiason (QB, 1990 to 1997), DJ Moore (WR, 2018 to 2026), and Yannick Ngakoue (DL, 2016 to 2024).
6 of those players share a team or college with Derrick Thomas, and 13 share one with Mario Manningham. The Start is the tighter side, so working forward from Derrick Thomas narrows the options fastest.
One shortest chain found by searching the full player pool, preferring the best known names at every step:
Many other chains work. Scoring rewards lower-profile connectors, so the best-known route is rarely the highest scoring one.
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