Meet a Buckeye: Dane Sanzenbacher
Thursday, November 12, 2009
By Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
PHOTO (top): Dane Sanzenbacher can make the big catch, but never lets the attention from being a starting wide receiver at Ohio State go to his head. (Kyle Robertson, Dispatch)
Dane Sanzenbacher proved again last week at Penn State that he can be counted on to go over the middle and make the tough catch. Just don't expect the Ohio State junior receiver to leap up and take a bow. He likes to play it on the down-low, keep it low-key, especially off the field, sort of the antithesis of the modern-day receiver. But can one be a football star standout at Ohio State and keep it from going to his head? As Sanzenbacher reveals in this Q-and-A, he's is giving it the old college try:
Q: What has it been like to become more recognizable this season?
A: I haven't really noticed it that much. I don't know if other guys get it a lot more, but I feel I have been able to go to class and things still be relatively unrecognized.
Q: Is it that way even when you go out to movies or dinner?
A: Maybe I'm recognized moreso when I'm back home in my hometown of Toledo, but in Columbus, I've been able to pretty much do what I want without much of that. Every now and then, you have someone ask for your autograph, or something, but nothing too significant.
Q: You seem pretty low-key when dealing with the media, yet on the field, you rise to the occasion. What comes over you come game time?
A: I think you see that with a lot of guys. It's a whole new ballgame on Saturdays. When you get out there on the field, you want to perform.
Q: So many receivers in the NFL are flamboyant, figures on and off the field. Why aren't you?
A: It is my opinion that for a lot of guys, when you get in the spotlight - and obviously at a university like this, with this kind of football program, you're going to be in the spotlight - it's important to still be who you are and not try to fit into some kind of image that others might have of you.
Q: How did you attain that attitude?
A: It comes from how I was raised, I guess. My parents have never treated me any different from when I was in grade school until now. Even if I go out and play on Saturday, I would still have to do the dishes and make my bed when I get home.