Happy 31st birthday to Zoltán Meskó, New England Patriot punter from 2010 to 2012.
1/14/2011:
Zoltan Mesko, Patriots’ Punter, Lived Through Revolution
Zoltan Mesko was born March 15, 1986, in Timisoara, near the Hungarian and Serbian borders, during the final gasp of Nicolae Ceausescu’s communist dictatorship. Before Zoltan was 4, he and his parents lived through a harrowing week in December 1989 when violent protests, sparked in their hometown, led to
the violent overthrow of the Ceausescu regime.
The streets of Timisoara were marked by gunfire, tear gas and armored vehicles while the Meskos hunkered down in their concrete, Soviet-era apartment building.
“It was scary,” Elisabeth Mesko recalled. “For one week, we could not go out because of all the shooting. We didn’t have much food. I remember my husband’s mother died that week, but only he could go to the funeral. It was too dangerous to take Zoltan out.”
4/25/2010:
| The Michigan Daily
“He had an amazing day punting outdoors with a really strong cross wind,” Filipovic said. “And I kinda thought after that, I really believed that he basically made a strong statement that he’s a guy that can get it done in New England.”
Moving on from Michigan to the NFL is a change that Mesko could flourish in due to his physical abilities. Filipovic said that Mesko’s leg strength and power and his overall natural ability are all key in potential success facing the elements.
“As long as he makes halfway decent contact with the ball, because he’s 6-4, 240, the balls going to carry down the field,” Filipovic said. “So he doesn’t have to be as precise in a bad climate as somebody that’s smaller would have to be. So I think he’s preferably suited for a place like New England.”
“Zoltan’s the kind of guy that can punt in cold weather, he can punt directionally inside the 20, one-step punts out of the back of the end zone, he can do that,” Filipovic said back in February. “He really has become one of those punters who has all of the attributes. He has good hands, he’s quick with his get off time. There’s really no reason for a coach to get nervous about sending him out onto the field at any level.
“That’s what I feel is Zoltan’s greatest strength ... He’s good enough basically for any level.”
At the Combine, Todd McShay, Director of College Football Scouting for ESPN Scouts Inc., said that Mesko was one of the top punters available in the draft. But McShay thought that Mesko wouldn't be drafted until the seventh round, if at all. He was tossing around the idea that there might not be a single punter taken in this year’s draft, which obviously ended up not being the case.
Instead, Mesko joins fellow former Wolverines linebacker Pierre Woods and quarterback Tom Brady in New England.
8/27/2012:
Zoltan Mesko receives 2012 Ron Burton Community Service award
“Zoltan is one of the best punters in the league, but he may be the league’s current MVP for his contributions in the community,” said Kraft. “In the 18 years since we established the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation, perhaps no player has accomplished more in the community in such a short amount of time.”
The Romanian-born Mesko, who was drafted in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft out of Michigan, discovered his passion for charity work, particularly that which benefits children, shortly after his arrival in New England. He immediately became one of the team’s most active community participants. In two seasons as a Patriot, Mesko has participated in a community event nearly every Tuesday (the players’ only off day each week), and often participates in more than one per week. He is also known to seek out opportunities to get involved in the community when he is in the area during the offseason.
Last season, Mesko was one of the Patriots players who spearheaded the season-long “Celebrate Volunteerism” campaign, visiting Boys & Girls Clubs, hospitals, veterans homes, home makeover events and more to promote the benefits of volunteering. In October 2011, he joined several of his teammates in a one-day playground build for a Providence, R.I. community. Mesko also granted wishes for eleven youth from across the country who chose to meet Patriots players as part of the Make-A-Wish program. During the holidays, Mekso was determined to make the season special for as many children possible by participating in every Patriots holiday activity. He helped children from homeless shelter programs select gifts during Patriots Gifts from the Gridiron and played games with more than 250 children from Massachusetts and Rhode Island during the Patriots Community Holiday Party. During the offseason, Mesko took it upon himself to organize a karaoke fundraiser, called “Zolioke,” where more than a dozen of his teammates sang karaoke, participated in live and silent auctions and interacted with pediatric patients to benefit Children’s Hospital Boston.
8/12/2013:
New England Patriots rookie punter Ryan Allen pushing Zoltan Mesko in battle
Mesko ranked 28th in the NFL last year by averaging 43.1 yards per punt, but 28 of his 60 attempts were downed inside the 20-yard line, giving him the third-best percentage in the league. He is, however, scheduled to reach free agency this offseason, and the Patriots would save nearly $1 million against the salary cap by going with Allen.
8/31/2013:
Patriots release 13 including Tim Tebow and Zoltan Mesko, place Adrian Wilson on IR - The Boston Globe
The Patriots released 13 players Saturday to get down to the NFL-mandated regular-season roster limit of 53.
The biggest names released were quarterback Tim Tebow, punter Zoltan Mesko, and defensive linemen Jermaine Cunningham and Justin Francis.
It was a bit of a surprise to see Mesko, who was effective, charismatic, and a player who quickly became a fixture in the Boston community, cut. But the fact that the Patriots kept undrafted rookie Ryan Allen around for as long as they did indicated that there was a true competition between Mesko and the Louisiana Tech product.
Through training camp and the four exhibition games, it appeared Mesko had an edge on Allen performance-wise, so the deciding factor likely was cost: Mesko was slated to make $1.323 million this season, with Allen on the books for the rookie minimum of $405,000.
Mesko was also slated to be a free agent after this season; Allen signed a three-year deal, as all undrafted rookies do.
“First and foremost, I want to thank the New England Patriots for everything they have done for me,” Mesko wrote on his Facebook page. “I have nothing but love in my heart as I depart this great organization.
“Mr. [Robert] Kraft, the coaches, the strength staff, the media personnel, the marketing department, the rest of the amazing staff members at Gillette, and especially my teammates…THANK YOU for all that you have given and done for me…
“I will miss New England, and more than anything, I’ll be missing the smiles on those kids whom I visited and acted like a goofball in front of. It was ALL worth it.”
5/10/2016:
Former Patriots Punter Zoltan Mesko Developing Advanced Helmet Technology To Battle Head Trauma
Former New England Patriots punter Zoltan Mesko was known as much for his off-field work as much as his work on special teams during his NFL career. Now retired, Mesko has shifted his focus to tackling perhaps the biggest issue facing football at all levels in the 21st century: head trauma.
Mesko is working for a small company called Impact Labs to develop a patent-pending “impact reduction device” called the EXO1. Mesko and fellow Michigan alum Benjamin Rizzo developed the technology, backed by a team of Harvard students, by focusing more on “the area outside of the helmet than the inside.”
Mesko’s inspiration to explore head trauma in football came from his own experience: as the Michigan Wolverines punter during the Senior Bowl in 2010, he fell flat on his face (“literally and figuratively,” as he put it) and momentarily blacked out. Mesko believes he suffered a concussion on the play, but never reported it for fear of hurting his chances of making the NFL – an entirely different issue altogether for athletes who suffer head injuries.
