Ottokar Von Gerhardt. Born in a small city in Germany called Trier, Gerhardt spent the first ten years of his life playing as many competitive sports as he could. Whether it be fussball, hockey, or ping pong, Gerhardt couldn’t say no to a challenge. Then one day his life changed forever. His parents, never accepting of the urban life, moved to America to live with relatives in Shipshewana Indiana. Ottokar never fully accepted this decision to move to America to leave his friends behind and ultimately learn a new language and culture at such a young age. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know how much of a culture shock he would have to experience in Indiana compared to Trier. Ultimately, Ottokar’s parents decided to become Amish. The Amish believe that keeping oneself away from worldly possessions such as automobiles, electricity, phones and even buttons. It was a hard for him, living such simple and rural life. Ottokar always believed that there was much more to life than tilling fields and raising barns.
When Ottokar turned 16, he experienced a rite of passage called Rumspringa, where those in adolescence, separated themselves for the community for a short period of time as a test of their faith. After Rumspringa, they return home to become baptized and assume additional responsibilities as adults. As for the kids themselves, it meant they get to leave home to drink, smoke, and fuck all they wanted to without consequence. Some take this chance to leave the community altogether, which Ottokar did. He lived with his uncle who lived in nearby South Bend Indiana, who also left the Amish life behind for greater things.
Gerhardt spent the majority of his time concentrating on football at Washington high school. He truly fell in love with the sport because of the strategic and physical aspect of the game as compared to soccer. He primarily played on the line due to his massive frame, at 6 foot 4, 310 pounds and dominated the competition, particularly at defensive end where he amassed 23 sacks while forcing 18 fumbles, helping the team reach the state semi-finals his final year in school but was unable to reach the finals.
Several smaller schools gave interest to the kid, but his poor grades and inexperience with the game left him with next to zero offers. This didn’t stop Ottokar from his love of playing football. He decided to try out as a walk-on for an in-state school. Notre Dame was out of the question and Purdue never accepted him as a student. His third choice was Indiana University at Bloomington. The football coach Tom Allen, then a Defensive Coordinator, saw something special with Ottokar. A spirited and hardworking individual who just wanted to play the game. Of course his massive frame and impressive stats in high school didn’t hurt.
He spent the first three years on the bench only seeing garbage playing time when the team was losing substantially, which happened more often than not. His first three years, he amassed 32 tackles, 9 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. His senior year, he promised himself he wouldn’t waste his one and only shot. Ottokar dominated the line as defensive end, sacking opposing quarterbacks 17 times, 20 tackles for a loss 6 forced fumbles, and one interception returned for a touchdown. When asked about his ability to take down the quarterback so easy, Gerhardt replied “I hate Quarterbacks. When I’m on the field, no one else matters except for me and him. If I am able to knock him out of the game, I know I did my job.”
After his final season at IU, Ottokar announced his decision to play in the pros as his poor grades in school would undoubtedly leave him without a degree. So far, his unique attributes and his absolute distaste in quarterbacks have attracted interest in the NSFL with teams such as the Baltimore Hawks, the Yellowknife Wraiths, the Arizona Outlaws, and the Orange County Otters.
When Ottokar turned 16, he experienced a rite of passage called Rumspringa, where those in adolescence, separated themselves for the community for a short period of time as a test of their faith. After Rumspringa, they return home to become baptized and assume additional responsibilities as adults. As for the kids themselves, it meant they get to leave home to drink, smoke, and fuck all they wanted to without consequence. Some take this chance to leave the community altogether, which Ottokar did. He lived with his uncle who lived in nearby South Bend Indiana, who also left the Amish life behind for greater things.
Gerhardt spent the majority of his time concentrating on football at Washington high school. He truly fell in love with the sport because of the strategic and physical aspect of the game as compared to soccer. He primarily played on the line due to his massive frame, at 6 foot 4, 310 pounds and dominated the competition, particularly at defensive end where he amassed 23 sacks while forcing 18 fumbles, helping the team reach the state semi-finals his final year in school but was unable to reach the finals.
Several smaller schools gave interest to the kid, but his poor grades and inexperience with the game left him with next to zero offers. This didn’t stop Ottokar from his love of playing football. He decided to try out as a walk-on for an in-state school. Notre Dame was out of the question and Purdue never accepted him as a student. His third choice was Indiana University at Bloomington. The football coach Tom Allen, then a Defensive Coordinator, saw something special with Ottokar. A spirited and hardworking individual who just wanted to play the game. Of course his massive frame and impressive stats in high school didn’t hurt.
He spent the first three years on the bench only seeing garbage playing time when the team was losing substantially, which happened more often than not. His first three years, he amassed 32 tackles, 9 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. His senior year, he promised himself he wouldn’t waste his one and only shot. Ottokar dominated the line as defensive end, sacking opposing quarterbacks 17 times, 20 tackles for a loss 6 forced fumbles, and one interception returned for a touchdown. When asked about his ability to take down the quarterback so easy, Gerhardt replied “I hate Quarterbacks. When I’m on the field, no one else matters except for me and him. If I am able to knock him out of the game, I know I did my job.”
After his final season at IU, Ottokar announced his decision to play in the pros as his poor grades in school would undoubtedly leave him without a degree. So far, his unique attributes and his absolute distaste in quarterbacks have attracted interest in the NSFL with teams such as the Baltimore Hawks, the Yellowknife Wraiths, the Arizona Outlaws, and the Orange County Otters.
