With 16 tackles and four for loss this season, many know that Ohio State defensive tackle Dexter Larimore is an imposing force on opposing offenses.

However, what many don’t know is that his skills also extend to the potter’s wheel.

At 6-feet-2-inches, 310 pounds, Larimore’s rough appearance and stocky frame might not resemble the typical artist, but the Merrillville, Ind., native admits art has been a passion of his since an early age.

“Basically that kind of started when I was younger,” Larimore said. “My mom had a little studio in the downtown of where I lived and basically I grew up going there. She would take me there to babysit me and stuff like that. As a young child I would take some of the pieces of the stuff that was broken and mold it into whatever I wanted to.”

What started out as playing in his mother’s studio as a child soon developed into one of Larimore’s many talents. As he got older, he continued to hone his skills and still does so to this day.

“In high school we had a ceramics class in our school so I ended up taking that like every quarter,” Larimore said. “I grew up just loving it. That just continued on and in college I took as many classes as I could.”

Even with the hectic schedule that being a Division I football player presents, Larimore said he still takes time to work on his art when he has the chance.

“Here (at OSU) I am a finance and operations management major, so as many classes as I could, I took some ceramics classes and kind of kept with it that way,” he said. “I have a wheel and a small kiln so I have been trying to keep up with it as much as I can, but it is kind of hard with football and school and all of that kind of stuff.”

Already showing off his athletic skills at OSU on Saturdays, Larimore was given the chance to exhibit his ceramics skills as well in his sophomore year.

Chosen by the NCAA to showcase his talents in the art studio, the Buckeye defensive leader had one of his sculptures on display in January 2009 at an art exhibition in Washington, D.C., at the NCAA convention.

While Larimore admits his artistic interests receive an array of responses from those around him, he said he does whatever he enjoys no matter what other’s perceptions are, and that includes art.

“I kind of get mixed reactions but I think the bottom line is, especially here, everyone kind of does their own thing so nobody hassles me too much,” he said. “I think being a defensive lineman it makes it a little easier if anyone does hassle me.”

Fellow Buckeye defensive lineman Cameron Heyward said he doesn’t get into the art stuff with Larimore, but saw no problem with his teammate’s hobby.

“I’ve heard a lot about that. I don’t really go in depth about it with him about that but it’s what he likes to do,” Heyward said. “I guess it’s his way to get away from football.”

While it serves as an outlet from the gridiron, Larimore said that in some ways his work in ceramics has helped better his focus on the football field.

“One aspect with pottery and working on the wheel is you have to really focus on what you’re doing and focus on the task at hand and really use what you have,” he said. “It translates perfectly to football where you have to focus on what your play is, what you’re doing, what gap do you have, what responsibilities do you have and you have to keep that same focus.”

Larimore even said that one day he hopes his talents on the field will help further his artistic prowess off the field.

“With the art thing, if I can get into the NFL, if I can excel and get in there for a couple of years and have some money then I would like to open my own studio,” he said. “If I have the money and I have the resources I definitely could see myself doing something like that.”

And if Larimore is able to open his own studio one day, he might already have his first customer.

“I see a big man who likes to wrestle, I don’t see anything that has to do with art or anything but I heard he has done some amazing things in art,” Heyward said. “Maybe he can build me something or sculpt me something.”