Sanzenbacher signs free-agent deal with Bears

Central Catholic and Ohio State grad Dane Sanzenbacher signs with the Chicago Bears.

Former Ohio State wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher signed a free-agent deal Tuesday with the Chicago Bears, less than a day after the NFL settled the labor dispute with its players.

Sanzenbacher, the former Central Catholic standout who was Ohio State’s Most Valuable Player last season as a senior but went undrafted earlier this year, said he expects to go to Chicago in the next day or so to go through a physical exam and begin reviewing the Bears’ playbook.

“It’s been a wild last 24 hours . . . kind of like the draft on steroids in terms of the pace, the excitement and how fast things were developing,” Sanzenbacher told The Blade. “It’s been almost constant since seven o’clock last night. I didn’t realize things would move this fast.”

Sanzenbacher said his Chicago-based agent Joe Flanagan of BTI Sports Advisors received calls and interest from the majority of the NFL teams, but that the Bears seemed to present the best opportunity.

“In the end, we had to go with a gut feeling, and it just seemed like that was a decent place to go to," he told The Blade. "There was a lot to digest in a very short time, but we're moving on quickly from here, and hopefully back to playing football.”