mandarich was born and raised in oakville, ontario, canada, the son of croatian immigrants. after his older brother john received a scholarship to play football at kent state university in kent, ohio, john convinced his parents to allow tony to play his senior year of high school football at theodore roosevelt high school in kent to improve his chances of receiving a scholarship. recruited to michigan state university by defensive back coach nick saban, mandarich played in the 1988 rose bowl, was named as a first-team all-american, an outland award finalist and a two-time big ten lineman of the year. upon his entry into the 1989 nfl draft, both scouts and media (most notably "sports illustrated", which did a cover story on him, nicknaming him "the incredible bulk") began trumpeting mandarich as the best offensive line prospect ever, touting his "measurables." "he weighed 330, ran the 40 [yard dash] in 4.65 seconds, did a standing long jump of 10'3", leaped vertically 30" and bench-pressed 225 pounds an unheard-of 39 times". he appeared on the cover of "sports illustrated" twice and was also a colorful character, illustrated by such instances as challenging then–heavyweight boxing champion mike tyson to a fight, missing scheduled public appearances due to being drunk or hungover, his well-documented love of the band guns n' roses (he had a dog named axl and also a tattoo of the cross-design from the cover of "appetite for destruction" on his arm), and referring to green bay as "a village".