This American football star wore a wedding band even during the time when he was still single.

The reason?

It's because NFL player and Super Bowl-winning tight end Ben Utecht wanted to guard against the temptation of sexual sin before he got marriage.

Speaking to The Christian Post to promote a new book detailing his life story, the 35-year-old athlete revealed that he is losing his memories as a result of at least five concussions throughout his playing days and many more traumatic brain injuries. That's why he decided to write "Counting the Days While My Mind Slips Away: A Love Letter to My Family."

While dementia has not yet taken full control of his mind, he said he wants to write whatever he can still recall to let his daughters and wife know how much he loves them.

Utecht, the son of a Methodist pastor, said despite his fading memory, he could still recall the day he and his future wife, Karyn Stordahl, first met at the University of Minnesota where they were both members of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

After a few dates with her, Utecht said he realised that Karyn was the true love of his life. Utecht proposed to Karyn in 2004, the same year he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Indianapolis Colts.

Although they were deeply in love and wanted to start their lives together, they decided to wait two more years before getting married since Karyn aspired not only to win the Miss Minnesota title but also to participate in the Miss America beauty pageant.

Karyn lived in Minnesota while Utecht was in Indianapolis. The two were only able to see each other about once a month.

This presented some real challenges for Utecht. Just like other star athletes, he felt he could succumb to lust and the pressure of sexual temptation.

To guard against this, he devised a plan to wear a wedding ring in public.

"I wore a wedding band throughout that entire time and I wanted to do my best to make sure that my intentions were always front and centre," Utecht told The Christian Post.

"I think that was very important and that protected me. I was also just being careful about the environment that I wanted to put myself into, especially while my fiancé was in Minnesota.

"I just figured that I had gotten her a ring and that obviously told people that she was engaged," he said.

"After talking with her about it, I just said, 'You know what, I know it's not typical, but I would like to have something like that as well so that it just kind of lets anybody else know that this guy is taken.' I thought it was something that gave me a lot of peace and gave her peace as well."