NFF National Scholar-Athletes
A four-year letterman at flanker for College Football Hall of Fame head coach Earle Bruce at Ohio State, Mike Lanese served as a co-captain of the 1985 Buckeyes. He helped Ohio State to a 36-12 record, a Big Ten title and victories in the 1982 Holiday Bowl, the 1984 Fiesta Bowl and the 1985 Citrus Bowl, recording seven catches for 63 yards in the three games combined. Ranked 14th in school history in career yards per catch (16.3), Lanese caught 72 passes for 1,170 yards and six touchdowns. He is most known for a 17-yard catch on third-and-14 in the 1984 game against Michigan that sealed the 21-7 win and earned him Chevrolet Offensive Player of the Game honors.
A Two-time Academic All-America and Academic All-Big Ten selection, Lanese compiled a 3.77 GPA in English and political science and was a member of the Dean’s List, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Sigma Alpha and the Sphinx Honorary Society. He served as student director of NCAA Volunteers for Youth and was involved in Boy Scouts, the Diabetes Association and the Children’s Hospital of Columbus. In 1985, he became the first Ohio State football player to win a Rhodes Scholarship, and he is the last Big Ten player to date to do so. Lanese earned a degree in philosophy, politics and economics from the University of Oxford in 1988 and spent four years in the U.S. Navy as a surface warfare officer from 1989-93. In 2013, he co-founded SmartCrowdz, LLC, a free event website and management application, and is currently a managing partner for the company. Lanese also serves as a civil affairs officer for the U.S. Army Reserve.
