Dane Sanzenbacher

Dane Sanzenbacher

Sanzenbacher after Bears Training Camp.
No. 11  Cincinnati Bengals
Position: Wide receiver
Personal information
Date of birth: October 13, 1988
Place of birth: Maumee, Ohio
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight: 184 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High school: Toledo (OH) Central Catholic
College: Ohio State
Undrafted: 2011
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
  • First team All-Big Ten honors (2010)
  • Team MVP (2010)
  • Team Most Inspirational Player (2010)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2014
Receptions: 43
Receiving yards: 449
Touchdowns: 3
Interceptions: 1
Stats at NFL.com

Dane Sanzenbacher (born October 13, 1988) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. He was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He played college football at Ohio State.

High school career

Sanzenbacher played high school football at Central Catholic High School in Toledo, OH. Sanzenbacher 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.[1] He helped guide Central Catholic to the 2005 state championship with two 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 Ohio State in July 2006 and was ranked as the No. 12 overall prospect in Ohio.

College career

2007 (freshman year)

Sanzenbacher had 12 catches for 89 yards as a true freshman. 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.

2008 (sophomore year)

Sanzenbacher was among OSU's top three receivers. For the year, he had 21 receptions for 272 yards and 1 touchdown. His season long reception went for 53 yards.

2009 (junior year)

Sanzenbacher was the Buckeyes' second leading receiver for the year. 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, Dane had a career game with 5 receptions going for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns.

2010 (senior year)

Sanzenbacher finished his senior season 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 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

Receiving
Year Rec Yds Yd/Rec Tds
2007 12 89 7.4 1
2008 21 272 13.0 1
2009 36 570 15.8 6
2010 55 948 17.2 11
Total 121 1820 15.0 19
Source: Big Ten Network[2]

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Sanzenbacher was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent 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 in 1983.[3]

Sanzenbacher's spot with the team was initially in doubt for the 2012 season after the Bears acquired Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Eric Weems, and Rashied Davis.[3][4] However, Sanzenbacher would eventually make the 53-man roster as the sixth receiver.[5]

The Bears waived Sanzenbacher on December 24, 2012.[6][7]

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals signed Sanzenbacher on December 25, 2012.[8] On March 5, 2014, the Bengals offered him a tender.[9] He signed his tender on April 8.[10]

On December 28, 2014, Sanzenbacher recorded his first career interception, picking off a pass by Pittsburgh Steelers punter Brad Wing on a fake punt.

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ "Football Scores & Stats « Big Ten Network". Bigtennetwork.stats.com. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Sanzenbacher in fight for roster spot". Chicagobears.com. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  4. ↑ Davis, Brian (2012-06-14). "Chicago Bears Depth to Have Ripple Effect on Dane Sanzenbacher, Others: Fan's Take - Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  5. ↑ Mayer, Larry (2012-09-25). "Bears reach 53-man roster limit". Chicagobears.com. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
  6. ↑ "Bears claw away Sanzenbacher". FantasySP. 2012-12-24. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
  7. ↑ Biggs, Brad (24 December 2012). "Sanzenbacher waived to clear roster spot". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  8. ↑ Associated Press (2012-12-25). "Bengals pick up receiver Dane Sanzenbacher off waivers from Bears; Dre Kirkpatrick on IR". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2012-12-25.
  9. ↑ "Bengals tender WR Hawkins, LB Rey, WR Sanzenbacher". USAToday.com. March 5, 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
  10. ↑ Bengals Wide Receiver Dane Sanzenbacher Signs His RFA Tender

External links