Benjamin Jeffrey Utecht (born June 30, 1981) 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 ...

player and current singer.''Making Music'': Ben Utecht, Former Colts Tight End, Turned Professional Singer
Utecht was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

for the Indianapolis Colts and the Cincinnati Bengals. He was signed 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 ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2004. 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 ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Utecht has also played for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. He earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

with the Colts in

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

over the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Early years

Utecht graduated from Hastings Senior High School in

Hastings, Minnesota Hastings is a city mostly in Dakota County, Minnesota, of which it is the county seat, with a portion in Washington County, Minnesota. It is near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi, Vermillion, and St. Croix River (Wisconsin-M ...

where he helped lead the Raiders to a State Semi-Final appearance.

College career

Utecht became a four-year starter at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, starting 35 of 44 games and playing in the

Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by TransPerfect and is officially known as the ''TransPerf ...

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

He signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the Colts on April 30, 2004. Utecht did not see much action in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. His best season was the 2006 season, with 37 receptions for 377 yards. In the 2006 postseason, Utecht had 5 receptions for 41 yards. He would then go on to help the Colts win

. In 2007, he caught 31 receptions for 364 yards and a touchdown. Utecht became a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

in the 2008 offseason.

Cincinnati Bengals

On March 14, the

signed him to an offer sheet believed to be worth $9 million over three seasons. The Colts had seven days to match the contract and retain Utecht, but the March 21 deadline passed and Utecht became a member of the Bengals. Prior to the start of the 2009 season, Utecht suffered a concussion during practice, which was aired on the HBO Television show "Hard Knocks". On August 31, 2009, Utecht was placed on the injured reserve list for the Cincinnati Bengals. He was released on November 17 with an injury settlement. Ben Utecht – receiving statistics

Singing career

Following his fifth concussion, Utecht ended his football career to focus on a second career in music. He maintained an interest in performing throughout high school, college and his professional football career and had intended to pursue a musical career after football. Utecht has recorded several albums including a Christmas album for which he was nominated for a 2012 Dove Award. He also went on tour in January 2012 and was featured on the cover of the March/April 2012 issue of '' Making Music'' Magazine.

Personal life

The son of a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Minister, Utecht recorded an

Inspirational music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

album, released on May 5, 2009, on

Sandi Patty Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty (born July 12, 1956) is an American Christian music singer, known for her wide soprano vocal range and expressive flexibility. Biography Early life Patty was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, into a family of musician ...

's Stylos label. His wife, Karyn (Stordahl) of

Owatonna, Minnesota Owatonna () is a city in Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 25,599 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Steele County. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fairgrounds, which hosts the Steele County Free Fair i ...

, also attended the

and was

Miss Minnesota The Miss Minnesota competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss America pageant. Women from Minnesota have won the Miss America crown on three occasions. The most recent winner was Gretchen ...

, 2005. Ben and Karyn are parents to four daughters.

Traumatic brain injury

Utecht, who suffered five known concussions during his football career, was already experiencing memory loss by late 2011, when he was 30 years old. Utecht released his single "You Will Always Be My Girls" in 2014 dedicated to his family in form of a letter to his wife Karyn and his daughters, as Utecht fears that one day that his brain injuries will lead him to not know them.

Other media

Utecht also wrote the book ''Counting the Days Until My Mind Slips Away''.

Discography

(credited as Benjamin Utecht)

Albums

*''Ben Utecht'' *''Man Up'' *''Two of Hearts: Cherished Love Song Duets'' (jointly with Anne Cochran) *''Christmas Hope: An Inspirational Holiday Collection''

Singles

*"You Will Always Be My Girls" (2014)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Utecht, Ben 1981 births Living people American performers of Christian music American football tight ends Cincinnati Bengals players Concussion activists Indianapolis Colts players Minnesota Golden Gophers football players People from Hastings, Minnesota Sportspeople from Rochester, Minnesota Musicians from Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota American United Methodists