Taylor Decker, showing a baby gray kangaroo here, tried to hide the fact he played for the Buckeyes. “He didn’t really want the attention on him,” said Suzi Rapp, a VP at the Columbus Zoo. “He definitely wanted the attention on the animals.” 0 Shares print As the leader of Ohio State’s offensive line from his left tackle position, Taylor Decker is used to fending off the biggest, baddest dudes in college football. The 6-foot-8, 315-pound senior usually wins those attacks, which is why he’s an All-America candidate and a likely first-round NFL draft pick. There’s one thing, however, that can reduce Decker to a giant teddy bear in mere moments: the sight of an animal. The more exotic the species, the better. Especially big cats. Decker’s fascination with them began as a young boy, when he’d rewatch “The Lion King” nearly every day and take his beloved stuffed lion everywhere. He’d sit through hours of “Animal Planet” on TV and become engrossed in documentaries about lion researchers in Africa. The subject became more than just a hobby for Decker. He is earning his degree in animal sciences at Ohio State and has interned the past two summers at the Columbus Zoo, where he’s interacted with tigers, leopards, cougars, cheetahs and all sorts of other creatures…
Continue Reading: From Buckeye to zookeeper: Taylor Decker’s life at the Columbus Zoo
