BY: Matt Markey (ToledoBlade.com) -

COLUMBUS — Etienne Sabino made the most difficult move a football player can consider. He took himself out of the game — all of the games — in the 2010 season.

Sabino, one of the top-rated linebackers in the country when he came to Ohio State three years ago, saw the abundance of talent at his position as the Buckeyes prepared for last season, so he chose to sit out the full year. That allowed Sabino (6-foot-4, 240) to retain two seasons of eligibility, with the expectation that he would then be a starter and carry on the rich tradition of dominant play at this key position on the OSU defense.

“It was extremely difficult,” Sabino said recently about his self-imposed eternity away from live competition. Although he continued to practice with the Buckeyes, he last played for Ohio State in the Rose Bowl win over Oregon that wrapped up the 2009 season.

“I would say it was probably one of the hardest years of my life,” said Sabino, whose first name is pronounced a-t-yen. “Not playing at all, when you’re used to playing a lot, it was definitely a hard thing.”

Sabino’s talents were shelved for a year due to the logjam at the position last season, when senior starters Ross Homan and Brian Rolle both went on to win first-team All-Big Ten honors. After it became evident in the

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