Ohio State defensive lineman Hero Kanu hopes to serve you Kaiserschmarrn someday

Hero Kanu is a 305-pound defensive tackle at Ohio State, who in his second year, has been making more and more of a contribution as the season has gone along.

In three of the past five games, he's played double-digit snaps. He has nine tackles and a sack. With Michael Hall battling an unspecified injury, he may be counted on to continue making an impact when OSU plays Michigan.

It's a rather remarkable development for Kanu, a native of Geltendorf, Germany, who took up football because he outgrew soccer.

Read on to learn more.

Get to know Ohio State defensive lineman Hero Kanu

Herr Kanu, wie gehts?

Mir gehts sehr gut und sebst?

Sehr gut. Danke! And I want to ask how you made it here from Germany in a minute, but first: If you could pick any celebrity to be an Ohio State super fan, who would it be?

That's a tough one. OK. There's two people ... that I always wanted to meet. One of them is Bruno Mars. The other is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

What do you like about those guys?

So growing up, my sister used to sing "Billionaire" for me to go to sleep, which is a song that Bruno Mars (sang). Dwayne Johnson, I don't know. I always liked "Fast and Furious," "San Andreas," just movies like that. And when it comes down to a superhero role or something like that, he really looks like he can pick up a car, do all this stuff. It doesn't look like it's impossible.

If you were a superhero, what would your powers be? And what would your superhero name be? Not that it can get much better than, you know, Hero.

That's a good question. I would be one of the people that has super strength, just because I'm definitely like, very strong. I'm also very big. I would say definitely that, if I could, I would use some fire, like shooting fire or something like that.

Yes!

Um, superhero name. Probably King or Prince, something like that, (because of) my history. My dad is from Nigeria, and my grandma and grandpa were actually king and queen in a tribe in Nigeria.

So you're Nigerian royalty?

A prince.

You're a prince?

Yes, you can say that.

I will say that because that is very cool. Are there any perks that come with this position?

People know the name Kanu. Like, my mom doesn't like my dad, for example, commenting on her Twitter posts, because the whole community sees that.

Your parents are on Twitter?

Yes. Both of them.

Do you check their feeds in the morning like, "Oh, please, please do not be the day that you guys embarrass me?"

Yes. So like a while ago, there's a picture of me when I was 13.

Oh, no.

I had, what was it? Frozen yogurt, like, in a waffle. But two of them. And just basically had them both in my face. My mom posted it, and it was an embarrassing picture. I can't look at it.

How many times has that been brought up in a team meeting?

Not once yet. I don't think a lot of people look at my mom's or my dad's Twitter.

It sounds like they should. Did you say your parents are from Nigeria?

My dad is from Nigeria, born and raised. My mom's from Germany, also born and raised.

How did they meet? Do you know?

I'm pretty sure they said at a friend's wedding or something like that. I don't know the details.

What do they do for a living?

So my dad is a welder. And my mom is a financial controller for a church.

And you mentioned a sister?

My sister, she works for a law firm. And my brother works for BMW design and development.

Oh, my goodness.

Yeah. So the question is, where did I go wrong? I'm just out here, you know, playing sports and studying.

What are you studying?

Hospitality management.

What do you want to do with that someday?

Later on, I want to have my own restaurant/bakery, obviously like a German bakery. That's my dream. ... I like cooking. I like baking. And I like interacting with a lot of people.

What's your best dish?

So there's something in Germany, it's called Kaiserschmarrn. Some people take it as dessert. I take it as a main entree and dessert. My grandma makes it. It's kind of like pancake bites. You put applesauce on top. It's hard to explain. You got to Google it to get a grasp on it.

How did you learn you could cook and bake?

So in Germany, there's different schools. Some people focus on technical work, like for mechanics and cooking. Then there is another school, which basically focuses on office jobs. And then there's another school which focuses on jobs where you will need a university for them, like doctor, law, something like that.

So I went with the first option. The direction I chose, it was cooking and nutrition. That's how I got into it in seventh grade. And I just started cooking at home a little bit. Not as much as I probably was supposed to, but it was enough for me. I liked making muffins. That was definitely my best dish.

You're an extremely fit guy, but you're obviously a very big guy.

Big guy.

Yes, did you go into cooking because you liked eating?

I wouldn't say that. ... It was just something where I knew I could interact with other people. It's a little bit more free. You don't always have to sit at the desk. That was my thing. So I don't know. I started it and it worked out for me.

Do your teammates know you have this ability?

Carson (Hinzman) is my roommate. I'm pretty sure he does. We always cook at home, make a lot of food. Sometimes neighbors come over like Tegra (Tshabola) or John Ferlmann. And I can say, J.T. (Tuimoloau), right there? His dad makes the best food. He has the D-line over all the time, like a bonding thing. His dad makes a lot of food, and he helps. And Ty Hamilton, you know, he's like the guy behind the grill. We go to his place, we got burgers, hotdogs, we got everything you need.

Oh my gosh, you've got everything covered. You've got baked goods and grilled food, and what is it J.T.'s dad is making?

Everything. It starts with Polynesian food, like pork belly. He orders wings sometimes, makes a special sauce with it. All types of stuff. His dad knows places to order food from too. It's just so good.

Before you make me any more hungry, what is your and Carson's place like?

I would say it's, you know, two men living there. ... And we should definitely do a better job decorating. We just started putting up LEDs and all that. Besides that, it's really plain, but all the essentials are covered.

OK, so how did you end up living here when you grew up playing soccer in Germany?

Yeah, I could have played soccer there. I kind of outgrew the sport, though. Like I said, I'm big...

Could have been a goalie.

I was goalie actually,

I knew I liked you.

But I was always more physical. I also played center back, and you go against other people and it's, 'Oh, foul, foul, foul again.' And it's, like, situations where I didn't even do anything wrong; I'm just bigger. So I wanted to find a new sport, and there was a friend that lived in the same village as me that already played football. And he was with the coach that brought me over here. He already worked with him. And I ended up trying out for him. And it just worked out. It was 2019, I believe. ... Got my first scholarship and made the move really fast. Mom wasn't really into it at that point, but you've got to do what you've got to do.

What's your middle name, Hero?

I've got two middle names. I'm dyslexic, so (I'm going to spell this slowly). So it's Chinemerem Okwu. (It means) my God will always continue to do for me.

How difficult has dyslexia made things for you?

It's easier in English than in German. ... For me, it focuses on capital letters, and in German we've got a lot more capitalized words. But it's OK. Obviously, technology today (helps), and we always have people who can proofread. You can always ask your teammates to read over it. So that's really nice.

Anything else you want our readers to know about you?

There's something that comes to my mind. It's, like, why people choose Ohio State. Obviously, it's a good program. But there's so much behind recruiting people don't even know, and it's not money. Like, for me, my decision was, where am I going to be the next three to five years of my life without my family? With my family being in the country. So who's gonna be that family? And Ohio State definitely made a big impact on me, helped me grow as a man. And even though I'm only 19, I feel like I'm very grown. I'm very mature in the way I act, the way I talk, the way I treat people. I definitely think Ohio State had a big impact on me and my faith. For example, (former Ohio State wide receiver) Kamryn Babb ... he was a big part of the connection between the football team and Jesus and, you know, Christianity. And he actually invited me to his church, where a lot of people go on the team. He helped me get back into it. And it was a big impact on me, too. Because sometimes you miss your family, you miss your friends at home, you miss being in a place that you really know, in and out. And then you just pray. Everything comes better. And (defensive line coach Larry Johnson) definitely encourages us as well. Coach J is like your grandpa. He treats you like one of his children or grandsons, which I like. It's like this family feeling. And I feel like nobody is too big here. Everybody always assumes, 'Oh, I can't talk to Marvin, or can talk to Emeka or Mike.' But everybody's really open to have conversation. Especially when it's genuinely not about football. Football players love that.

In 10 years or so, when you open this bakery, is it going to be in German Village in Columbus, or is it going to be in an actual German village?

I want to start here in Ohio with, you know, hopefully, the name that I'm creating here at Ohio State to promote it. Planning on doing it in German Village ... and start a franchise. Eventually send it to Germany. In Germany, I'm showing them, like, an Americanized bakery, and here I'm gonna show them what it looks like really in Germany.

Do you have a name for this place in mind?

I was just thinking Hero's, because there's a next part to it. My major is Hospitality Management., minor is sports coaching. And eventually, I want to get into coaching, recruiting – like, what my coach did for me. Basically, train people as well. So eventually I will open up a gym specifically for athletes that want to go DI or pro, and then have a bistro next to it, (serving) healthier stuff. Because I would say German German bread, for example, and breakfast bread is a lot more nutritious than American bread rolls. So that is definitely the plan.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Get to know Ohio State football defensive lineman Hero Kanu