Dane Sanzenbacher (born October 13, 1988) 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 wi ...

wide receiver. He was signed by the Chicago Bears 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 2011. He played college football at

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 ...

High school career

Sanzenbacher played high school football at Central Catholic High School in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

. He holds the school record for multiple categories including career receiving yards with 2,808, career receptions with 151, and career all purpose yards with 4,079. He is fourth in career scoring with 167 points. He helped guide Central Catholic to the 2005 state championship with three touchdown receptions. He was a two-time City League player of the year. His junior year, Dane earned first-team all-state. As a junior, Sanzenbacher grabbed 71 receptions for 16 touchdowns and 1,424 yards. He also played defensive back and had 11 interceptions. HIs senior season, Dane had 61 receptions for 1,079 yards and 11 touchdowns. In seven career playoff games, he recorded 40 receptions for 842 yards and nine touchdowns in addition to 40 solo tackles and eight interceptions. Sanzenbacher also ran track and was all-state in the 400-meter dash. He committed to

in July 2006 and was ranked as the No. 12 overall prospect in Ohio.

College career

Sanzenbacher had 12 catches for 89 yards as a true freshman in 2007. He caught a touchdown on his very first college reception, a three-yard reception from Todd Boeckman in the Youngstown State win. He received a letter for the year. Sanzenbacher was among OSU's top three receivers in 2008. For the year, he had 21 receptions for 272 yards and 1 touchdown. His season long reception went for 53 yards. Sanzenbacher was the Buckeyes' second leading receiver in 2009. He grabbed 36 receptions for 570 yards and 6 touchdowns. He had a career long 76-yard reception. When the Buckeyes played his hometown team, the

Toledo Rockets The Toledo Rockets are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Toledo. The Rockets compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The ...

, Dane had a career game with 5 receptions going for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sanzenbacher finished his senior season in 2010 as the Buckeyes leading receiver. He led all Buckeyes with 55 receptions, 948 receiving yards, and 11 receiving touchdowns. In week 4, Sanzenbacher had a break-out game with four receiving touchdowns against Eastern Michigan, tying the OSU record for most receiving touchdowns in a game. Sanzenbacher earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. At the team banquet, Sanzenbacher was voted as the team's most valuable player as well as the

Bo Rein Robert Edward "Bo" Rein (July 20, 1945 – January 10, 1980) was an American football and baseball player and football coach. He was a two-sport athlete at Ohio State University and served as the head football coach at North Carolina State Univ ...

Award winner as the team's most inspirational player. Coach Jim Tressel revealed that, for the first time he could recall, one player won both of the team's top awards and won them by a landslide.

Statistics

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Sanzenbacher was signed by the Chicago Bears as an

following the 2011 NFL Draft on July 26, 2011. Sanzenbacher finished his rookie season in the NFL with 27 receptions going for 276 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns, making him the first undrafted Bears rookie to score more than one touchdown since

Dennis McKinnon Dennis Lewis McKinnon (born August 22, 1961) is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears and the Dallas Cowboys. McKinnon played college football at Florida State University an ...

in 1983. Sanzenbacher's spot with the team was initially in doubt for the season after the Bears acquired

Brandon Marshall Brandon Tyrone Marshall (born March 23, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCF Knights, and was drafted by ...

Alshon Jeffery Alshon Jeffery (born February 14, 1990) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at South Carolina, and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. As a member of the ...

Eric Weems Eric Grimes Weems (born July 4, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver, special teamer, and return specialist. He played college football at Bethune–Cookman and was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 200 ...

, and

Rashied Davis Rashied Khalid Davis (born July 24, 1979) is a retired American football wide receiver. He was originally signed by the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football at San Jose S ...

. However, Sanzenbacher would eventually make the 53-man roster as the sixth receiver. The Bears waived Sanzenbacher on December 24, 2012.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals signed Sanzenbacher on December 25, 2012. On March 5, 2014, the Bengals offered him a tender. He signed his tender on April 8.Bengals Wide Receiver Dane Sanzenbacher Signs His RFA Tender
/ref> On December 28, 2014, Sanzenbacher recorded his first career interception, picking off a pass by Pittsburgh Steelers punter Brad Wing on a fake punt.

Post-playing career

Sanzenbacher was a reporter for 2 years with the CBS affiliate in his hometown, Toledo, OH - WTOL-TV following his time in the NFL. He then moved on to be the Director of Admission at his alma mater, Toledo Central Catholic High School. Sanzenbacher currently works as a Loan Officer at CF Bank in Dublin, OH. On August 14, 2021 Sanzenbacher married Allie Hausfeld.

References

External links

Scout.com profile

Chicago Bears bio

Cincinnati Bengals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanzenbacher, Dane 1988 births Living people American football wide receivers Ohio State Buckeyes football players Chicago Bears players Cincinnati Bengals players Players of American football from Ohio People from Maumee, Ohio