Ray Guy reinvented the way National Football League punters booted the ball. Guy was a first-round draft pick, is a hall-of-famer and a college football award bears his name.
If Guy is the standard of excellence when it comes to punting professionally, then Dave Zastudil is Ohio’s own benchmark.
He holds Ohio’s all-time record for most punting yards in a career (9,225), three of the five longest punts in school history and is the only Bobcat to be on the All-Mid-American Conference first team four times.
Zastudil was part of the discussion for the Ray Guy Award, which is awarded to the nation’s most proficient punter, in 2001, his senior season, but lost to Purdue’s Travis Dorsch.
Although Guy is perhaps the golden boy of American punting, Zastudil looked more to fellow MAC players for inspiration.
Brad Maynard, a Ball State graduate, is one of Zastudil’s idols and the Arizona Cardinals’ career leader in yards (10,702) and has the team’s highest punting yard total (556) in a single game.
He was picked in the third round of the 1997 NFL draft by the New York Giants.
Zastudil, who is in his 11th NFL season, was selected in the fourth round by the Baltimore Ravens in 2002, and is currently listed as the No. 1 punter for the Cardinals.
Punting is a position that provides longevity for its players in a sport where the average career length is three to six years. Zastudil’s long career has enabled him to spend time with loved ones and still compete at the highest level.
“It’s good to see your friends and family coming to the games and cheering you on,” he said. “It’s good to be a role model for young kids.”
Zastudil’s influence is not limited to young fans. Ohio special teams coach Brian Haines teamed up with Zastudil to produce a DVD that breaks down the position of punting step-by-step.
Grant Venham, a redshirt freshman punter who is vying for the starting spot, has brushed up his technique by watching the DVD.
“It really helped me out a lot this camp,” he said. “I’ve been watching it over and over … I pick up something from every single time I’ve seen it.”
Should he win the job of starting punter from this season on out, with four prolific seasons, Venham has the opportunity to challenge Zastudil’s records.
“That would be awesome,” Venham said. “I’ve looked up to him ever since I knew who he was and knew he went here. It really makes my dream (of playing in the NFL) a reality.”
Ohio football coach Frank Solich said that Venham and redshirt sophomore Matt Ringle are neck-and-neck for the starting punter position for Saturday’s game against Penn State.
“I think both have performed really well at times, both have been inconsistent at times,” Solich said. “I do like the fact that as of late they have shown more consistency. I don’t care who your punter is … you have to have confidence in yourself and the technique that you’ve been operating for 1,000 kicks.”
Haines does not put the burden of matching Zastudil’s prowess on his players.
“I haven’t put that pressure on them,” he said. “I think they do that to themselves. I tell the punters, ‘Watch that DVD every single day and you’re going to pick something new up on it.’ ”
nr225008@ohiou.edu
