Dave Zastudil

David Michael Zastudil (born October 26, 1978) is a former American football punter. He played college football at Ohio, and was drafted in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens.

Dave Zastudil
refer to caption
Zastudil in the 2014 NFL season.
No. 15, 9
Position:Punter
Personal information
Born: (1978-10-26) October 26, 1978
Bay Village, Ohio, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:Bay Village (OH) Bay
College:Ohio
NFL Draft:2002 / Round: 4 / Pick: 112
Career history
Career highlights and awards
NFL records
  • Most punting yards in a season: 5,209 (2012)
  • Most punts inside the 20 in a season: 46 (2012)
Career NFL statistics
Punts:869
Punting yards:38,016
Punting yards average:43.7
Inside 20:285
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Zastudil attended Bay High School in Bay Village, Ohio,[1] where he played quarterback, punter, and placekicker and helped to lead his team to an 8–2 record during his senior year.[1] As a senior, Dave passed for 806 yards and accumulated 2,282 yards throughout his career.[1] He averaged 40.7 yards per kick as a senior punter with a long punt of 67 yards;[1] he also made 19 consecutive point-after attempts, made six field goals with a long field goal of 42 yards and averaged 57 yards per kickoff.[1] He was selected twice as an all-state and all-conference punter,[1] and made the all-district team as a kicker and the all-conference team as a quarterback.

College career

Dave graduated from Bay High School and attended Ohio University, where he led the Bobcats and the Mid-American Conference in punting for four straight years.[1] As a senior, Zastudil was selected as a first-team All-American by Football News and the Football Writers Association of America, and was selected as a second-team All-American by the Associated Press.[1] He was also a first-team All-Mid-American Conference selection and the MAC's special teams co-player of the year, after leading the MAC in punting four times.[1] During his senior year, Zastudil punted 50 times for 2,280 yards with a 45.6-yard average,[1] with 16 of those punts having come from inside the 20-yard line, seven touchbacks and a long punt of 74 yards.[1]

As an underclassman, Zastudil was a first-team All-Mid American Conference selection as a junior (averaging 44.3 yards per punt), sophomore (43.2 yards per punt) and freshman (45.3 yards per punt).[1] As a sophomore, he was the MAC special teams player of the year and the first-team All-MAC punter after leading the conference in punting.[1] As a freshman, he was also named to the All-America team.[1]

Zastudil also set the school record for the longest punt with a 75-yard punt against the Akron Zips.[1] Dave graduated from Ohio with a double major in finance and marketing.[1]

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

After graduating from Ohio University, Zastudil was eligible for the 2002 NFL Draft. He was one of only two punters taken during the draft (Craig Jarrett was the other),[2] and was drafted in the fourth round with the 112th pick overall by the Baltimore Ravens.[2][3] As a rookie, he punted 81 times for 41.58 average.[4] He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team for the 2002 season.[5] In his only postseason appearance of his professional career, Zastudil had eight punts for a 48.75 average in a 20–17 loss to the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card Round.[6]

Cleveland Browns
Zastudil with the Browns in 2007

On March 12, 2006, Zastudil was signed by the Cleveland Browns to the terms of a five-year contract,[7] replacing lackluster punter Kyle Richardson. Before 2009, Zastudil had played in all but three games during his professional career; he missed those three games in 2004 after suffering a shoulder injury.[8][9] In Week 5 of the 2009 season, he earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his game against the Buffalo Bills, a 6–3 defensive game where he punted nine times and landed seven inside the 20.[10][11] On November 18, 2009, Zastudil was put on injured reserve after a lingering knee problem. Reggie Hodges took over the punting for the Browns. The knee did not recover as well as expected after surgery, and Zastudil was placed on injured reserve again for the 2010 season on August 17, 2010.[12] On November 16, Zastudil and quarterback Brett Ratliff were waived by the Browns.[13]

Arizona Cardinals

Zastudil signed with the Arizona Cardinals on August 24, 2011.[14] In the 2012 season, Zastudil set the NFL record for most net punting yards in a season with 5,209 on 112 punts, the third most in a season.[15][16] In addition, he had 46 punts land inside the 20-yard line, breaking the NFL single-season record, which was originally shared by three others.[17] On August 31, 2015, Zastudil was released by the Cardinals.[18]

Career statistics
Year PuntingKickoffs
 GNo.YDSAVGLNGIn20TBBLKDNo.YDSAVGTB
2002Baltimore Ravens16813,36841.6613152212864.00
2003Baltimore Ravens16893,64941.06721800000
2004Baltimore Ravens14732,94840.4612612015454.00
2005Baltimore Ravens16843,65343.560117111616.00
2006Cleveland Browns16813,56344.06128700000
2007Cleveland Browns12492,04641.86414400000
2008Cleveland Browns16753,41045.565231100000
2009Cleveland Browns8492,18844.76025500000
2011Arizona Cardinals15873,92945.26624500000
2012Arizona Cardinals161125,20946.57046800000
2013Arizona Cardinals16783,56645.76035600000
Totals16185837,52943.770284783419849.50

Personal life

He is married to Sara Zastudil. The couple have five children.[19] He currently resides in Bay Village, Ohio.[20]

References
  1. "Dave Zastudil". ClevelandBrowns.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2007. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
  2. "Draft History – 2002". NFL.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2007. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
  3. "2002 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  4. "Dave Zastudil 2002 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  5. "2002 NFL All-Rookie Team". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  6. "Wild Card - Tennessee Titans at Baltimore Ravens - January 3rd, 2004". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  7. Jackson, Zac (March 12, 2006). "Browns sign punter Zastudil". ClevelandBrowns.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
  8. Jones, Brian (November 18, 2004). "With Zastudil injured, Murphy signed to punt". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  9. "Dave Zastudil Career Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  10. "Cleveland Browns at Buffalo Bills - October 11th, 2009". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  11. "2009 NFL Week 5 Leaders & Scores". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  12. "Browns punter Zastudil out for season with injury". Reuters. August 17, 2010. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  13. "Browns waive QB Ratliff, P Zastudil on busy day". CBS Sports. November 16, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
  14. Weinfuss, Josh (January 21, 2014). "Cards sign punter Zastudil to two-year deal". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  15. "NFL Punting Yards Single-Season Leaders". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  16. "NFL Punts Single-Season Leaders (since 1939)". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  17. McManaman, Bob (December 23, 2012). "Bears 28, Cardinals 13". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  18. Weinfuss, Josh (August 31, 2015). "Cardinals release veterans Dave Zastudil, Lorenzo Alexander". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  19. "NFL Great Dave Zastudil '97 Returns to His Football Roots, Coaching BMS 5-6 Graders". The Villager Newspaper Online. November 30, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  20. Galek, Lisa (May 26, 2021). "Best Places To Live: Bay Village". Cleveland Magazine. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.