Former Ohio State OT Taylor Decker visits cubs at Columbus Zoo named after him

Former Ohio State offensive tackle Taylor Decker had an incredible career with the Buckeyes, before going on to be a first-round selection of the Detroit Lions in the 2016 NFL Draft. Decker’s impact in the community was also felt off of the gridiron.

After being drafted by the Lions, Decker received a rare honor from the Columbus Zoo.

As it turns out, Decker interned at the zoo for the last two summers, so employees decided to name two clouded leopards after him.The female and male cubs were named, “Taylor” and “Decker,” respectively.

“Taylor is party of the zoo family, the Columbus Zoo family,” vice president of animal programs Suzi Rapp told ESPN. “Everybody was rooting for him last night (Thursday) so my phone was blowing up last night. It was just blowing up with everybody at the zoo because everybody is proud of him. He embraced the zoo, too. He really did.”

Naturally, Decker visited the cubs named in his honor.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BE7WrVyAwzt/

Decker certainly made his impact felt in Columbus, so it will be interesting to see how big of a splash he makes in his new Detroit community.

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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports

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