Benjamin Richard Hartsock (born July 5, 1980) 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

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

in 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 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 was selected by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in the third round of the

2004 NFL draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held from April 24–25, 2004, at the Theate ...

. Hartsock also played in the NFL for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

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

, and

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

during his NFL career. Since retiring he has worked as a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for pro and college football on

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an Radio in the United States, American Sports radio, sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports ...

and

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

Early life

Hartsock attended

Unioto High School Unioto High School is a public high school near Chillicothe, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Union-Scioto Local School District. The school colors are purple and gold. The name ''Unioto'' is a portmanteau of the two townships that the ...

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in Ross County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 22,059 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, ...

, where he caught 86 passes for 1562 yards (18.16 yards reception). He also played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

, and

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 ...

. Hartsock recorded 61 tackles, and 19

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

s during his senior season, after switching from linebacker to defensive end. Hartsock was a three-year captain and four-year letter winner. Hartsock committed to play at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

during his senior year of high school.

College career

Hartsock attended the Ohio State University, where he played tight end. He was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference honoree and won CoSIDA Academic All-American honors as a junior. During his college career, Hartsock started 31 of 51 games played and had 58 receptions for 519 yards (8.9 yards per reception). Hartsock recorded 33 catches for 290 yards and 2 touchdowns) in his senior year. As a junior, he was a contributor for the

2002 Ohio State Buckeyes football team The 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University during the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was the first in NCAA Division I-A—now known as NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)—history ...

, which that defeated the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area since 1971. From its beginning until 2006, the game was hosted at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has be ...

, winning the

BCS National Championship The BCS National Championship Game was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college football season as one of four desi ...

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Hartsock was selected in the third round with the 68th overall pick of the

by the

. He was a reserve tight end in his time with the Colts, playing behind

Marcus Pollard Marcus LaJuan Pollard (born February 8, 1972) is an American former professional football tight end who is currently the director of player engagement and youth football for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played 14 seasons in the National Football ...

and

Dallas Clark Dallas Dean Clark (born June 12, 1979) 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. Unq ...

Tennessee Titans

In 2006, Hartsock signed with the Colts' division rival, the

. He started 12 games, compiling 206 yards receiving in two years at tight end for Tennessee. The Titans lost Hartsock to unrestricted free agency in March 2008.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 2, 2008, the

came to an agreement with Hartsock. He was released on September 1, 2009.

New York Jets

Hartsock was signed by the

on September 2, 2009, to a one-year $1.2 million contract. Hartsock recorded his first career touchdown on a two-yard pass from Jets quarterback

Mark Sanchez Mark Travis John Sanchez (born November 11, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the USC Trojans ...

against his former team, the Tennessee Titans, in September 2009. Hartsock was re-signed by the team to a two-year contract in March 2010. On March 2, 2011, Hartsock was released by the Jets after spending the past two seasons with the team primarily as a blocker.

Carolina Panthers

Hartsock signed a two-year contract with the

on July 27, 2011.

New England Patriots

On August 10, 2014, Hartsock was signed by 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 ...

. He was released just four days later, on August 14.

Personal life

Hartsock is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. He married his high school sweetheart, Amy Lykowski, in 2003, and they have two daughters, Whitney and Lindsey.

References

External links

Carolina Panthers profile

New York Jets profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartsock, Ben 1980 births Living people American football tight ends College football announcers Atlanta Falcons players Carolina Panthers players Indianapolis Colts players NFL announcers New York Jets players New England Patriots players Ohio State Buckeyes football players Tennessee Titans players Sportspeople from Chillicothe, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio