Benjamin Richard Hartsock (born July 5, 1980) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tight-end and high-end role player. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and was drafted by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

in the third round of the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

. Hartsock also played for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

, and

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

during his NFL career. Since retiring he has worked as a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

for pro and college football on

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...

and

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

Early years

Hartsock attended

Unioto High School Unioto High School is a public high school near Chillicothe, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Union-Scioto Local School District. The school colors are purple and gold. The name ''Unioto'' is a portmanteau of the two townships that the ...

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio. It is the only city in Ross Count ...

, where he caught 86 passes for 1562 yards (18.16 yards reception). He also played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

, and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. Hartsock recorded 61 tackles, and 19

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

s during his senior season, after switching from linebacker to defensive end. Hartsock was a three-year captain and four-year letter winner. Hartsock committed to play at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

during his senior year of high school.

College career

Hartsock attended the Ohio State University, where he played tight end. He was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference honoree and won CoSIDA Academic All-American honors as a junior. During his college career, Hartsock started 31 of 51 games played and had 58 receptions for 519 yards (8.9 yards per reception). Hartsock recorded 33 catches for 290 yards and 2 touchdowns) in his senior year. As a junior, he was a contributor for the

2002 Ohio State Buckeyes football team The 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University during the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was the first in NCAA Division I-A—now known as NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)—histor ...

, which that defeated the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

, winning the

BCS National Championship The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college foot ...

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Hartsock was drafted in the third round with the 68th overall pick of the

by the

. He was a reserve tight end in his time with the Colts, playing behind

Marcus Pollard Marcus LaJuan Pollard (born February 8, 1972) is a former American football tight end and current director of player development and youth football for the Jacksonville Jaguars. College career Born in Lanett, Alabama, Pollard attended Valley Hi ...

and

Dallas Clark Dallas Dean Clark (born June 12, 1979) is a former American football tight end who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Iowa, earned unanimous All-American honors, and was reco ...

Tennessee Titans

In 2006, Hartsock signed with the Colts' division rival, the

. He started 12 games, compiling 206 yards receiving in two years at tight end for Tennessee. The Titans lost Hartsock to unrestricted free agency in March 2008.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 2, 2008, the

came to an agreement with Hartsock. He was released on September 1, 2009.

New York Jets

Hartsock was signed by the

on September 2, 2009 to a one-year $1.2 million contract. Hartsock recorded his first career touchdown on a two-yard pass from Jets quarterback

Mark Sanchez Mark Travis John Sanchez (born November 11, 1986) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football at the University of Southern California (USC) and was draft ...

against his former team, the Tennessee Titans, in September 2009. Hartsock was re-signed by the team to a two-year contract in March 2010. On March 2, 2011, Hartsock was released by the Jets after spending the past two seasons with the team primarily as a blocker.

Carolina Panthers

Hartsock signed a two-year contract with the

on July 27, 2011.

New England Patriots

On August 10, 2014, Hartsock was signed by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. He was released just four days later, on August 14.

Personal life

Hartsock is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. He married his high school sweetheart, Amy Lykowski, in 2003, and they have two daughters, Whitney and Lindsey.

References

External links

Carolina Panthers profile

New York Jets profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartsock, Ben 1980 births Living people American football tight ends College football announcers Atlanta Falcons players Carolina Panthers players Indianapolis Colts players National Football League announcers New York Jets players New England Patriots players Ohio State Buckeyes football players Tennessee Titans players Sportspeople from Chillicothe, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio