Sanborn grew up in Deer Park, Illinois. He was raised by his mother following the death of his father, Paul Sanborn, when he was four years old.[1] Sanborn attended Lake Zurich High School in Lake Zurich, Illinois. As a senior, he played in the Illinois State Football Championship and after the season, was named the Pioneer Press Defensive Player of the Year after recording 120 tackles and three sacks as a senior.[2] Sanborn had 296 tackles and 13 sacks in three varsity seasons at Lake Zurich.[3] He was rated a four-star recruit and committed to play college football at Wisconsin over several other Power Five offers.[4]
College career
Sanborn played in 11 games as a freshman.[5] He was Wisconsin's leading tackler in sophomore season with 80 along with nine tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.[6] As a junior, Sanborn led the Badgers for a second straight season with 52 tackles and had four tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble and one interception and was named third-team All-Big Ten Conference.[7] He was named first-team All-Big Ten as a senior after recording 91 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, and five sacks.[8] Following the end of the season, Sanborn announced that he would be entering the 2022 NFL draft.[9]
Sanborn signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent on May 6, 2022.[12] Sanborn eventually made the Bears' 53-man roster for the 2022 season.[13] He became the Bears' starting middle linebacker following the trade of Roquan Smith.[14] On November 13, during his first career start, Sanborn recorded two sacks and 12 total tackles during a 31–30 loss to the Detroit Lions.[15] On December 18, Sanborn suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the Bears' 25–20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles,[14] and was placed on injured reserve on December 20.[16] He made six starts for the Bears in 2022, where he recorded 64 total tackles and two sacks.[14]Pro Football Focus (PFF) named Sanborn to their 2022 All-Rookie Team following the regular season.[17]
The Bears signed Tremaine Edmunds and T. J. Edwards to reinforce their linebacker corps in the ensuing offseason. Sanborn transitioned to a strong-side linebacker.[18] He started all 17 games of the 2023 Chicago Bears season, where he registered 65 tackles, one interception, one sack, and seven tackles for loss.[19] He was named to ESPN's 2023 ESPN "All-Youngster Team", a collection of players 24 years old and younger.[20]
Sanborn's father played college football as an offensive lineman for the University of Oregon.[21] His younger brother, Bryan, also plays linebacker at Wisconsin.[22]
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