Posted on Fri, Apr 30, 2010 : 11:23 a.m.
Zoltan Mesko's rise is an only-in-America sort of story
By AnnArbor.com Staff
Michigan punter Zoltan Mesko, who says Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1977 bodybuilding classic "Pumping Iron" is one of his all-time favorite movies, can bench press 225 pounds 17 times.
Ann Arbor News file photo
Only in America.
That's the conclusion John U. Bacon reaches about former Michigan football player Zoltan Mesko, the Romanian immigrant-turned-punting phenom.
Bacon details Mesko's improbable story: in a decade, he went from living in a cramped Queens apartment to Twinsburg, Ohio, where he caught the punting bug and wound up with a full scholarship to the University of Michigan.
You can read the full story about Mesko, a fifth-round draft pick of the New England Patriots, here.
Comments
BowlForBlue
Sun, May 2, 2010 : 11:50 a.m.
That does seem like a great story for a movie, think he'd have to do something really special in the NFL though i.e., Tom Brady, Super bowl MVP. I met Zolton a year ago, and he surprised me with his down to earth, little kid like character - it was great! Wish him the best, hopefully - like to see him fake a punt and get a NFL touchdown.
Terry Star21
Fri, Apr 30, 2010 : 11:29 a.m.
Touching story on Zoltan, from Romania at 10, in Junior High kicks a regular ball so high it busts out the light, gym teacher tells him about a game called football... he tries punting, parents can't understand what that is... gets scholarship offerers, some schools say NFL, some say wall street - so he choses both and goes to Michigan. You gotta love it... ready for major motion picture. The only part amiss was it said Zoltan grew up a buckeye fan? I'm sure the writer was talking about forestry, or the love of a tree - no one grows up a buckeye fan, come on!