
The highlights were plentiful during Ben Utecht’s football career. He led his Minnesota high school to unprecedented success and was a four-year starter for the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers. In his first game as a National Football League (NFL) player, Utecht caught a pass from Peyton Manning and barreled over Deion “Prime Time” Sanders for a touchdown. “I caught a pass from a future Hall of Famer and ended up scoring over another Hall of Famer,” Utecht says with pride. And in 2007, at Super Bowl XLI, he was a starting tight end on the Indianapolis Colts championship-winning team. Today, Utecht isn’t sure those memories were worth the cost.