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Ohio State football history: Where is former wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher now
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- Ohio State football history: Where is former wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher now
Dane Sanzenbacher is determined not to let any one thing define him, which isn't the easiest thing for a former Ohio State football player.
"I've always been a 'normal' person," he said. "I felt like I had this hiatus of, like, 10 years (in) this crazy world of high-level college sports and then professional sports but always was a 'normal' person."
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The wide receiver's professional career started as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears (2011-12) and also included a stint with the Cincinnati Bengals (2012-14).
"But at that point, you know, I had just had a concussion the previous season," he said. "I didn't have a doubt I could make another roster. It was just a matter of do you want to go through this again? Do you want to go through a camp again? And I knew that if I was even asking that question, and a lot of former players will tell you this, it's already time because ... you're already too late, and the sport's too dangerous, it's too fast to be only half in.
Ohio State wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher walks off the field after losing to Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium in 2010.
"So, yeah, my last season I got the inkling that I didn't want to be tackled anymore. And if that thought is creeping into your mind in that sport, it's like, OK, let's let's figure out something else."
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For a time, "something else" meant working as a general assignment reporter for WTOL television in Toledo , but once Sanzenbacher finished interviewing local newsmakers, they would start quizzing him . They wanted to know what it was like to be a Buckeye and a former NFL player.
Here, in his hometown, it was especially hard to escape his football-playing past.
"I always was strongly associated with Toledo and still am," said Sanzenbacher, who graduated Central Catholic High School as the Fighting Irish 's record holder in receiving yards. He also helped the team win the state championship in 2005.
Wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher made 124 catches for 1,879 yards and 19 touchdowns at Ohio State.
His dad was an ironworker in the city. His mom a technician in an optometrist's office there.
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"Like, I knew the guts of Toledo," Sanzenbacher said. "And I think people that live there are also very proud of Toledo. ... Whenever I went anywhere, if it was a Toledo person, they let me know right away."
They certainly knew Sanzenbacher and his story, which is part of why Sanzenbacher said he made the "grown-up decision" to leave the news business after two years and become director of admissions at Central Catholic. He enjoyed the job, so even if working for his alma mater reinforced how much he was still viewed as a former football player, that's not why he moved to Columbus.
"My wife got a job down in Columbus," he said. "So she's the one who brought me back to central Ohio ."
Wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher made 124 catches for 1,879 yards and 19 touchdowns at Ohio State.
Miles away from where he made some of his 124 catches for 1,879 yards and 19 touchdowns for the Buckeyes , he worked in marketing for a local bank.
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Then he met former teammate Zach Boren for coffee. Boren is the president of Boren Brothers Waste Services .
"They're looking to grow the business a little bit more," Sanzenbacher said. "He asked if I'd consider moving into the waste industry, and here I am."
Roughly the same time, Sanzenbacher's wife, Allie, gave birth to son Calvin – now 1 year old.
Perhaps a little more rooted in a life outside of football, Sanzenbacher became more comfortable discussing the life of a football player, which he is doing this season on 97.1 The Fan.
Former Ohio State teammates Zach Boren (44) and Dane Sanzenbacher (12) now work together in Columbus for Boren Brothers Waste Services.
"I find it fun. It keeps me enough in the game," he said. "It allows me to use my history as a player. ... College football is in the midst of being flipped upside down, and this is a good time to be part of that conversation."
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However, he soon adds this: "I have interests that are outside of football. And when I'm listening to (other) radio shows or even podcasts, those things shine through to me, too. So I hope that comes across."
On air or off, he's seeking balance.
"There is a moment when you kind of have to ... make yourself something that has nothing to do with (football) or stay very closely involved with it, either through coaching or being in the sport. That gray area is the tough one, I think."
He's happy to live in that gray area because, at last, he feels he chose it for himself.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Where is Ohio State football wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher now
