Zoltán Meskó

At 38 years old, Zoltán Meskó has this physical status:

Prior to the 2005 season, it appeared that the Michigan Wolverines would use three kickers: Garrett Rivas for field goals and extra points, Ross Ryan for kickoffs and Meskó for punting, but redshirt junior Ryan beat out Meskó and junior Mark Spencer for the punting duties. Meskó redshirted as a freshman at Michigan in 2005, while Ryan ranked last in the Big Ten for the 2005 season with a 38.3 yard average.

Entering the 2006 season for Michigan, head coach Lloyd Carr could not decide between Meskó and Ryan. In the team's opening game against Vanderbilt, Meskó punted three times and Ryan once. The two shared the kicking duties for the first four games with Meskó recording 12 punts and Ryan recording 9. In the fifth game of the season, against the Minnesota Golden Gophers for the Little Brown Jug, Meskó handled all of the punting duties. Ryan punted only five more times the rest of the season. Meskó finished the season fourth in the Big Ten and 38th in the nation in punting average. Meskó earned Academic All-Big Ten Conference recognition for earning a letter while maintaining a 3.0+ average during the fall.

Prior to the 2007 season, Meskó adjusted his kicking technique to a straight motion instead of a cross-over like National Football League punters. He was a preseason Ray Guy Award watchlist nominee. After Rivas graduated, the 2007 Michigan Wolverines football team had a battle for the placekicking duties for the 2007 season between redshirt freshman Bryan Wright and two walk-ons. When the team had two fourth quarter field goal attempts blocked during their season-opening 34–32 loss to the two-time defending FCS champion Appalachian State Mountaineers, Meskó was an uninvolved third stringer but handled punting duties. Meskó finished the season fifth in the Big Ten in punting average, and was again Academic All-Conference.

When Rich Rodriguez arrived to replace the retired Carr prior to the 2008 season, he announced the Wolverines would be using a new punting formation along with the spread offense. Instead of using two gunners, the team switched to using six, and Meskó switched to rolling out and using directional kicks. The plan called for a mixture of employing traditional pocket punts and roll out for rugby style ones. Meskó said the changes to the team were so drastic under Rodriguez that he felt like he had transferred. On all seven of his punts in the opening game against Utah, Meskó rolled out to his left before punting. The new punt scheme was part of the option offense and could have resulted in a fake punt. In Michigan's third game against Notre Dame on 13 September, Meskó executed an option run for 13 yards and a first down. Meskó also executed a seven-yard option run for a first down against Minnesota on 8 November in the Little Brown Jug game. Meskó had a couple of punts blocked during the season, and one was returned for a touchdown during the Michigan – Ohio State game. During the season, Meskó served as K.C. Lopata's holder on placekicks. Meskó repeated a Guy Award watchlist candidate in 2008. After the list was narrowed from fifty to ten, Meskó was a semifinalist for the award. Meskó led the Big Ten in punting average and finished twentieth in the nation. He was named to the Big Ten All Conference First-Team in 2008. He was recognized by Phil Steele as a fourth team All-American for 2008. Meskó was Academic All-Conference for a third time. At the conclusion of the 2008–09 academic year, the inaugural class of Big Ten Distinguished Scholars was recognized for having attained a 3.7 GPA for the academic year while earning varsity letters, and Meskó was among the honorees.

As a senior, Meskó entered the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season opener with the most career starts (38) on the 2009 Michigan Wolverines football team. He served as the first special teams performer to be captain in the 130-year history of Michigan football. In 2009, Meskó was again a Guy Award watchlist candidate for the Wolverines. He was also a pre-season Playboy All-American and NationalChamps.net first-team All-American. On 11 October 2009, he was named Big Ten Conference special teams player of the week for averaging 53.8 yards on five punts at Iowa. He was a 2009 Allstate Good Works Team honoree for his outstanding civic contributions to the local community and a 2009 Lowe's Senior Class Award Finalist for classroom, community, character and competition excellence. At the midpoint in the Wolverines' Big Ten schedule, Meskó ranked fifth in the nation and first in the Big Ten in punting average. In November, Meskó was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award and one of 12 finalists for the Wuerffel Trophy. In eight conference games Meskó averaged 45.2 yards/punt, which was the first time a Michigan punter led the Big Ten in Conference game punting average since Paul Staroba in 1970. Although the team played twelve games, Meskó only accumulated stats in eleven since the team did not punt a single time in its 17 October 63–6 victory against the Delaware State Hornets. He was selected by both the coaches and the media to the first-team All-Big Ten Conference team. Meskó was named one of three finalists for the Ray Guy Award along with Drew Butler and Chaz Henry. Meskó was honored as a fall term of the 2009-10 Academic All-Conference selection. He was also one of fifteen Football Bowl Subdivision athletes and six Big Ten athletes selected as a first-team Academic All-American. He was the second-team All-American punter selection by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, the Associated Press, Scout.com, and Rivals.com. He was an honorable mention All-American by Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Weekly, and College Football News. He finished the season ranked eighth in the nation and first in the Big Ten in punting average. On 31 December 2009, he was one of 22 players recognized as a member of the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, which rewards public service and volunteer work.

Meskó is Michigan's career leader in punts and punting yardage and is second only to Monte Robbins in punting average. He is also the Michigan single-season punts (80) and punting yards (3436) record holder. His 44.46 was a school single-season record that lasted three years until Will Hagerup surpassed it. Meskó ranks ninth all-time in career punts and seventh in punting yardage in Big Ten Conference history. At the close of his collegiate career, Meskó was rated the number one punter prospect for the 2010 NFL draft by Scouts.com.

Professional career

Meskó ranked second among all specialists at the NFL Combine with 16 repetitions on the bench press.

Meskó was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fifth round (150th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft. He was the first punter or placekicker drafted and the second Wolverine drafted (Brandon Graham was the first) in the 2010 draft. He signed a four-year contract on 16 June 2010.

In Week 6 of his rookie season, Meskó set a season-long record with a 65-yard punt in overtime that gave the Baltimore Ravens the ball at their own 19-yard line. The Ravens failed to gain a first down and punted back to the Patriots, who scored to win the game on the ensuing drive.

The 2010 Patriots were the seventh-highest scoring team in NFL history; as a result, Meskó punted just 58 times, 26th in the league. Of those punts, 19 were downed inside the 20, while 5 were touchbacks. Meskó finished his rookie season with a gross punting average of 43.2 yards, and net average of 38.4 yards, the highest net average for a rookie in NFL history. During the 2011 NFL lockout, Meskó, a finance and marketing major in college, interned as a private equity analyst with Graham Partners in Philadelphia. Meskó also served as the Patriots' holder.

At the end of the 2011 season, Meskó and the Patriots appeared in Super Bowl XLVI. He had three punts for 123 net yards (41.0 average), but the Patriots lost 21–17 to the New York Giants.

Meskó was fighting for the punter position with undrafted rookie Ryan Allen. Meskó did not survive the final cuts. Bleacher Report stated that the reason for the cut was that if Meskó had stayed for his fourth year, he would have made $1.3 million, while Allen would only cost $405,000.

On 2 September 2013, Meskó was signed to the Pittsburgh Steelers active roster. Meskó had grown up a Steelers fan although he lived in Cleveland and wore a Steelers jacket during his youth. Meskó was released from the Steelers on 29 October 2013. Meskó's punting had been statistically poor and he had some troubles on specific plays that upset Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. Meskó was replaced by Mat McBriar.

On 31 December 2013, after a punt by Shawn Powell went only 10 yards, Meskó was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals. His contract was not renewed at the end of the season, becoming a free agent. He had workouts with the New York Jets and Washington Redskins in early 2014, but was not signed.

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