Dave Zastudil

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David Michael Zastudil (born October 26, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio Bobcats, and was selected in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens.

Early lifeEdit

Zastudil attended Bay High School in Bay Village, Ohio,<ref name="Zastudil">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> where he played quarterback, punter, and placekicker and helped to lead his team to an 8–2 record during his senior year.<ref name="Zastudil" /> As a senior, Dave passed for 806 yards and accumulated 2,282 yards throughout his career.<ref name="Zastudil" /> He averaged 40.7 yards per kick as a senior punter with a long punt of 67 yards;<ref name="Zastudil" /> 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.<ref name="Zastudil" /> He was selected twice as an all-state and all-conference punter,<ref name="Zastudil" /> and made the all-district team as a kicker and the all-conference team as a quarterback.

College careerEdit

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.<ref name="Zastudil" /> 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.<ref name="Zastudil" /> 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.<ref name="Zastudil" /> During his senior year, Zastudil punted 50 times for 2,280 yards with a 45.6-yard average,<ref name="Zastudil" /> with 16 of those punts having come from inside the 20-yard line, seven touchbacks and a long punt of 74 yards.<ref name="Zastudil" />

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).<ref name="Zastudil" /> 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.<ref name="Zastudil" /> As a freshman, he was also named to the All-America team.<ref name="Zastudil" />

Zastudil also set the school record for the longest punt with a 75-yard punt against the Akron Zips.<ref name="Zastudil" /> Dave graduated from Ohio with a double major in finance and marketing.<ref name="Zastudil" />

Professional careerEdit

Baltimore RavensEdit

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),<ref name=Draft2002>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was selected in the fourth round with the 112th pick overall by the Baltimore Ravens.<ref name=Draft2002 /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As a rookie, he punted 81 times for 41.58 average.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team for the 2002 season.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Cleveland BrownsEdit

File:Dave Zastudil punting in 2007.jpg
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,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> replacing journeyman 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=IR2010>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On November 16, Zastudil and quarterback Brett Ratliff were waived by the Browns.<ref name=waive>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Arizona CardinalsEdit

Zastudil signed with the Arizona Cardinals on August 24, 2011.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On August 31, 2015, Zastudil was released by the Cardinals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career statisticsEdit

Year   Punting Kickoffs
  G No. YDS AVG LNG In20 TB BLKD No. YDS AVG TB
2002 Baltimore Ravens 16 81 3,368 41.6 61 31 5 2 2 128 64.0 0
2003 Baltimore Ravens 16 89 3,649 41.0 67 21 8 0 0 0 0 0
2004 Baltimore Ravens 14 73 2,948 40.4 61 26 12 0 1 54 54.0 0
2005 Baltimore Ravens 16 84 3,653 43.5 60 11 7 1 1 16 16.0 0
2006 Cleveland Browns 16 81 3,563 44.0 61 28 7 0 0 0 0 0
2007 Cleveland Browns 12 49 2,046 41.8 64 14 4 0 0 0 0 0
2008 Cleveland Browns 16 75 3,410 45.5 65 23 11 0 0 0 0 0
2009 Cleveland Browns 8 49 2,188 44.7 60 25 5 0 0 0 0 0
2011 Arizona Cardinals 15 87 3,929 45.2 66 24 5 0 0 0 0 0
2012 Arizona Cardinals 16 112 5,209 46.5 70 46 8 0 0 0 0 0
2013 Arizona Cardinals 16 78 3,566 45.7 60 35 6 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 161 858 37,529 43.7 70 284 78 3 4 198 49.5 0

Personal lifeEdit

He is married to Sara Zastudil. The couple have five children.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He currently resides in Bay Village, Ohio.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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