Andrew Warren Katzenmoyer (born December 2, 1977) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was selected by the Patriots in the first round (28th overall) of the 1999 NFL draft. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

, and became the first Buckeye to win the

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

. His playing career was shortened due to a neck injury.

Early life

Katzenmoyer was born in

Kettering, Ohio Kettering is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. It is an inner suburb of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton. The city had a population of 57,862 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous suburb in the Dayton metr ...

. He and his family moved to

Westerville, Ohio Westerville is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin and Delaware County, Ohio, Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. A northeastern suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus as well as the home of Otterbein University, the population was 39 ...

when he was 5. He attended Westerville South High School, and played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

for the Westerville South Wildcats. Katzenmoyer won the Mr. Football Award and was selected as the national defensive player of the year his final year of high school.

College career

Katzenmoyer attended Ohio State University, where he played for the

Ohio State Buckeyes football The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing Ohio State University in the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played its home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, since 1 ...

team from 1996 to 1998. In the first game of his college career, he became the first true freshman to ever start at linebacker for the Buckeyes. As a freshman he recorded 12 sacks including three in the 1997 Rose Bowl.William Nack,
Born to be a Buckeye
" ''Sports Illustrated'' (November 25, 1996). Retrieved February 2, 2012. As a sophomore in 1997, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, and won the Dick Butkus Award and Jack Lambert Trophy. Katzenmoyer was a three time first-team all-Big Ten selection. He started 37 consecutive games and finished his college career with 256 tackles, 50 tackles-for-loss, 18 sacks and six Interceptions. In 2009, he was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall Of Fame. Notably, he was the last player at Ohio State to wear number 45.

Professional career

The

selected Katzenmoyer in the first round (28th pick overall) of the 1999 NFL draft. In Week 6 of the 1999 season, Katzenmoyer became the second rookie in NFL history to record 2.0+ sacks and a touchdown in a single game, the first being Todd Shell. He had intercepted a pass from

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

quarterback

Dan Marino Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. ( ; born September 15, 1961) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. He played college f ...

in the first three minutes of the first quarter, and returned it for 57 yards. As of 2023, only 1 other rookie, Devon Witherspoon, had achieved this statistic afterwards. He suffered a neck injury during his first season with the Patriots. After playing in 24 games with 14 starts throughout his career, he was eventually forced to have surgery and miss half of the 2000 season. During

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

in 2001, Katzenmoyer walked out, citing concern about a feeling in his neck. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

for the entire 2001 season. On June 14, 2002, the Patriots released Katzenmoyer.

Personal life

Katzenmoyer is now a risk management adviser for Hosket Ulen Insurance Solutions along with serving on the board for neighborhood bridges, 2nd and 7 Foundation, and The Ohio State University Varsity O.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Katzenmoyer, Andy 1977 births Living people All-American college football players American football linebackers New England Patriots players Ohio State Buckeyes football players Players of American football from Ohio