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Indianapolis Colts’ Football Player Wins Super Bowl Ring, Heads to Nashville to Launch Singing Caree

Written by Michael Ireland, ASSIST

Thursday, 22 February 2007

Ben Utecht, Indianapolis Colts
HASTINGS, MINNESOTA / INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (ANS) -- At 25 years old, 6 ft. 6 in and 250-lbs, Ben Utecht presumably has a lot of football left in him, but the former Minnesota Gophers tight end has interests beyond football, too.

Ben Utecht (number 86) of the Super Bowl championship team Indianapolis Colts is heading for a singing career in Nashville.
Utecht, the Hastings, Minnesota, native who caught a big pass from Peyton Manning for a first down in the Indianapolis Colts' Super Bowl victory over the Chicago Bears in Miami, is also a Christian singer. While at the University of Minnesota, he and Gophers teammate Dan Nystrom sang the national anthem at many athletic events.

According to a report in the online edition of the Pioneer Press newspaper, when George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush came to St. Paul to campaign for Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman a couple of times several years ago, the pair performed the national anthem for the former and current U.S. presidents.

Utecht is interested in recording Christian music and plans to go to Nashville, Tennessee, this off-season to pursue that interest.

The newspaper said in a February 7 article that when the Colts visit the White House as a perk for winning the Super Bowl, that could be a conversation piece for Utecht.

"Maybe that's what I could say to (President Bush), ask him if he remembers two college football players singing the national anthem for him," Utecht told the newspaper.

Utecht, who wears number 86 for the Colts, lives in suburban Indianapolis and visited with family and friends in the Twin Cities recently. While in town, he was featured on Channel 5, KSTP-TV, the local ABC affiliate in a segment which showed him playing the guitar and singing while his wife played the piano.

In the Pioneer Press article, Utecht described the scene in the Colts' locker room immediately following the Colts' victory over Chicago.

"Coach (Tony) Dungy walked in, called the team together, and said, 'We're going to end this thing the way we started,' " Utecht said. "We have a tradition of coming together as a team and saying the Lord's Prayer, win or lose, before and after every game.

"It was really special, pretty intimate. Coach told the camera people to turn off their cameras. He told us how proud he was of us. That's why we respect him so much."

Wikipedia.com, the online encyclopedia, says Utecht is a graduate of Hastings Senior High School in Hastings, Minnesota, became a four-year starter at the University of Minnesota, starting 35 of 44 games and playing in the Music City Bowl. He signed as a free agent with the Colts on April 30, 2004. He has caught 37 passes and rushed for 377 yards.

The official Indianapolis Colts' website states that Utecht helped lead a college hockey team to second place in state as goalie, qualified for state track meet in long jump as senior, was a member of National Honor Society and won numerous awards for musical and artistic excellence. He performed the national anthem at Colts-Buffalo preseason game in August, 2004.

Utecht is slated to sing the national anthem at a Minnesota Timberwolves NBA game in the Twin Cities this week.