Zoltán Meskó (American football)

• New England Patriots (2010-2012)
• Pittsburgh Steelers (2013 )

First Team All- Big Ten Conference (2008, 2009)

Zoltán Meskó ( born March 6, 1986 in Timişoara, Romania) is an American professional American football player of Hungarian origin. The 1.93m Mesko plays in the National Football League ( NFL), the position of the Punters.

Biography

Meskó grew up in communist Romania and experienced as a child and a member of the Hungarian-born minority the turmoil of the Romanian revolution. He lived through a childhood of poverty and danger, which he characterized as " perpetual shortage of food" and " standing committees". The parents competed successfully for an American Green Card and emigrated to the United States, as Zoltán was ten years old. In Cleveland learned Meskó, who was an avid soccer player, know for the first time American football and soon became a promising kicker. When indoor football ( Kickball ) he entered once the ball so powerful that it broke the ceiling lamps. When in high school it was known how large Meskó would be (now 1.93 meters), he was retrained on the kicker to punter.

When the Meskós realized that Zoltán could visit with American football a prestigious university ( " My parents could hardly believe that you can already get a university scholarship, only if you can come far a football " ), his mother put a " best-of " video of the best punts of her son together, she sent to 86 universities and received so many assurances that Meskó virtually had a free choice. Finally, he decided on the University of Michigan and was a member of the local football team, the Michigan Wolverines.

Meskó established itself as one of the pillars of the Wolverines. He was twice elected to the First Team All- Big Ten Conference, presented in 2009 with 44.5 yards per punt a new Wolverines record and became the first Wolverines captain, who was the special teams. When he was hoping to punt to the attention of NFL scouts, he said that his name was unusual by American standards good in that it more likely to remember if his name would remain as " Jim Smith " was. The NFL Draft 2010 he was appointed as the 150th player committed by the New England Patriots, whose head coach Bill Belichick hoped to eradicate the rather average performance from the previous punter Chris Hanson.

Right away Meskó became the new punter the Patriots. In the years 2010 to 2012, he participated in all 16 regular season games in each of the regular season and reached the Patriots to Super Bowl XLVI, which was lost with 17:21 against the New York Giants. 2011 managed Meskó remarkable 41.5 net yards per punt ( 46.5 yards absolute), and 2012, he managed to nail down with 46.7 percent of his punts the enemy in their own 20 - yard line. In 2013, Mesko was released by the Patriots, New England since the new punter Ryan Allen committed. Meskó the Pittsburgh Steelers joined them and played there until October 2013, according to moderate benefits ( only 36.7 net yards per punt ) in the game against the Oakland Raiders failed him two punts (one was blocked, one flew only 30 yards wide). Then Meskó was dismissed.

Private life

Meskó holds degrees in business administration and sports science and speaks five languages. He is the son of Mihály and Erzsébet Meskó, an engineer marriage couple. Mihály Meskó was a professional bowler in Romania.