![]() “It just makes sense to me to open the gym and almost, in a way, try to give back.” To me, I never really left,” says Katzenmoyer. “I’ve always been kind of a hometown guy. Katzenmoyer Performance and KP CrossFit on Hoff Road was the result. In 2001, Katzenmoyer retired from football and bought a home in Dublin, but knew he wanted to be in Westerville and start a business. “I did all I could to get myself back to trying to play, and then, in the end, I thought it was in the best interest of my longevity of life not to go back to play.” “Going into it, you don’t think – not that you’re invincible – but the odds are way, way down because you don’t have any previous injuries,” says Katzenmoyer. For an athlete who had evaded injury all his life, sitting on the sidelines was a new experience. Katzenmoyer’s football career was cut short by a serious neck injury during his first season with the Patriots. ![]() “The way I always approach going to the next level is worrying about where I’m currently at, and being the best I could be.” “The Patriots didn’t really talk to me in the draft process they had a need for an outside linebacker, and I was categorized as a middle linebacker,” says Katzenmoyer. The Patriots had been on the hunt for an outside linebacker, and Katzenmoyer was, in the words of ESPN, the “prototypical middle linebacker.” Katzenmoyer was a first-round pick by the Patriots – a team that wasn’t even on his radar. It became clear that college wouldn’t be the end of Katzenmoyer’s football career.ĭespite his collegiate success, the NFL draft results would come as a huge surprise. In fact, Katzenmoyer was OSU’s first true freshman linebacker to open all 12 games, and started all 37 games of his college career. “I could’ve gone anywhere so, to me, Ohio State was the best fit,” says Katzenmoyer. Getting invited to play linebacker at OSU was the cherry on top. “I didn’t start thinking about that until my junior year.”ĭuring the middle linebacker’s senior year at Westerville South High School, Maxwell Football Club named Katzenmoyer Defensive Player of the Year, and he was the 1995 recipient of the Mr. “I didn’t think I would be able to play college football,” says Katzenmoyer. His football career began when he was in sixth grade, and he had no idea what kind of journey the sport would take him on. Katzenmoyer was born in Kettering, but moved with his family to Westerville at age 5. We say congrats to the Big Kat and the rest of the Ohio State graduates for completing something nobody can ever take away from them.After playing football for The Ohio State University and later the New England Patriots, Andy Katzenmoyer knew there was no better place to locate both his home and his business than Westerville. ![]() of Athletics’ degree completion program, Katzenmoyer will be handed his degree, no doubt fulfilling a lifelong goal of his. Your big day is here, #OSUGrad Class of 2021! We can't wait to celebrate with you! ⭕️□ Find more info about today's ceremony at. He won a Super Bowl with the Patriots in 2002, but his career was cut short due to a neck injury. Katzenmoyer was a consensus All-American in 1997 and a three-time first-team All-Big Ten performer who was drafted by the New England Patriots in the first round of the NFL draft in 1999. He was the first Ohio State linebacker to win the Butkus Award and one of two all-time along with James Laurinaitis. At 6 feet, 3 inches and 260 pounds, the former Buckeye great ran like a 220-pounder and was one of the most intimidating players of his day in the college game. Twenty-three years after completing his college career at Ohio State, former linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer is getting his degree from THE same university.įor those of you old enough to remember, Katzenmoyer, or “The Big Kat,” was a freakish athlete who was one of the best to ever play linebacker at OSU.
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