Ben Utecht breaks the typical stereotypes of a professional football player. He grew up as the “Minister’s kid,” and was more involved in the arts in high school than in the athletic scene. After suffering a brain injury from multiple concussions, Utecht retired from pro football, but not without a Super Bowl ring with the Indianapolis Colts. The tight end is currently working on an autobiographical album and book called “GPS For Life,” which is set to release at the end of this year. He met with Hillsdale teams and coaches on campus on Monday and Tuesday and delivered a speech to the student body on Tuesday night in Phillips Auditorium.
How long have you been speaking to audiences?
I’m the minister’s kid, the “PK,” so I’ve actually been up in front of an audience ever since I started singing in church when I was like in sixth grade. I received a bachelor’s degree in speech communications from the University of Minnesota. It’s been something I really enjoy doing, it’s a passion of mine. It ranges from speaking to high schools to being a spokesperson for the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance, and speaking to colleges and churches.
What was your childhood like, growing up with a father as a minister?
I have one sister four years younger than me. She’s 28, her name is Ashley. I’m not gonna lie, it was a great family environment for me. My parents really did it the right way. You often get stereotyped as a kid, either faithful or rebel. I was for the most part faithful and quite honestly it was because my parents really lived out their relationship with the Lord. Me and my sister really got to see it; my dad didn’t just preach about it then it went away. Because we saw a really healthy marriage we were really drawn into our faith.
When did you first develop a passion and talent for football?
I started in fourth grade and I was always taller for my class, always faster, and involved in multiple sports. I was a football, hockey, and track athlete. And quite honestly football just came first. I accepted a scholarship to the University of Minnesota the summer after my junior year. If you were to ask me if hockey would have offered first — hockey is a very big deal in Minnesota—or if I had been offered at the same time, who knows, maybe I’d be giving an NHL talk. But it just happened so quick for me.
How did you live your faith in the NFL? Were there challenges?
It was definitely challenging. You get into a culture where so much has been handed to really young men who are just starting out their lives, and have been given a tremendous amount of wealth and fame in a short period of time. Very easily you’re put in compromising situations and tempting situations. The struggle is to stay disciplined. Like in working on technique as a tennis player, you must stay disciplined, so when those trials come you are really able to make the right decisions.
Because it’s a personal relationship it’s different with every individual as it is with every organization. I was very fortunate to be on the Indianapolis Colts, whose leader, Tony Dungy, was a very outspoken Christian. I came into a really faith-based environment as my first experience in the NFL. That was very helpful to my walk with the Lord. I was all alone there, engaged while my fiancé was in Minnesota and I was in Indy for two years. To have that accountability surrounding me at all times was really important.
I met Tony Dungy in high school and was blown away with his humility. What was it like to work with him?
He’s the real deal. It’s refreshing when you get to meet people who are truly transparent. You would never learn something or find out something about Tony Dungy that would shock you, because who you saw in your high school is who you saw in the NFL. He is no different than what you see on Sundays on ESPN. That’s the Tony Dungy enigma. That’s what I think you would see in Jesus.
What advice would you give to college athletes in regards to concussions?
I guess my advice would be for an athlete to really understand what a brain injury is and what the consequences could be. It’s a different injury than any other kind of injury. It affects who you are. I have had lots of injuries in my career; the list is too long to tell. All of them I could live with. But the struggles I had with memory at 32 years old truly scare me.
What does the NFL or NCAA need to do to prevent concussions?
There’s lots that needs to be done. The more our major leagues like the NFL and MLB and NHL can step up and set the precedence, it all trickles down to youth sports. We need to continue to see that happen. We need to now increase funding for research. At the end of the day people are not going to be able to argue with facts. We can provide funding information to make factual decisions, because so much is up in the air and that’s where these organizations get away with treating athletes poorly.
You have three girls, so probably no chance at this point that you will have any kids playing football?
I can tell by their personalities that they will not be in contact sports. My wife was a tennis player and a collegiate and semi-pro golfer. More than anything they will follow in finesse sports. If I had a son though I would let him play football. I would make different choices for him knowing what I know about concussions, taking knowledge and making right decisions by it.
Tell me about your career as a singer- where did it develop?
I was probably more involved in the arts in high school than anything else. I was in five choirs–I was a total thespian, I was in all the musicals. My father was a musician and my mom was a singer, so it’s part of the family. I remember I did an article in USA Today and they coined me as the “real life Glee guy.” Not that I’d recommend that show, but I do remember watching it a couple of times and thinking, ‘man, that is my life.’ Football star, homecoming king, in all the choirs. It was something I could really relate to. I definitely got teased for that. There’s really a barrier between the arts and athletics. That’s one of the things I like to do when I speak to high schools- encourage young boys, especially those who have an interest in the arts, to really pursue their passions no matter what anyone else thinks.