Bay Village native Dave Zastudil is entering his fourth season as the punter for the Cleveland Browns. (West Life file photos by Larry Bennet)

Bay native still gets a kick suiting up for the Browns
By Jeff Gallatin
Sports
Published Aug. 12, 2009

For Cleveland Browns punter and Bay Village native Dave Zastudil – it still comes down to taking care of  the home team – both on the football field and off.

“It’s pretty simple,” Zastudil said after practice last Friday. “I want the Bay High football team to do well, I want OU (Ohio University, Zastudil’s collegiate alma mater) to do well and I want the Browns to do well and win.”

Coming off one of his best seasons as a pro, Zastudil continues to do his part to make sure his team has an advantage after he’s booted the ball down the field or put the opponents into a coffin corner. Last year, he posted an overall average punt of 45.5 yards per kick, a career high, and placed 23 punts inside the 20-yard line. Entering his fourth season with the Browns in 2009 after spending the first four years of his career with the rival Baltimore Ravens, Zastudil readily admits he still gets a major charge coming onto the football field wearing the jersey of his hometown team.

“It’s still a great feeling to be able to do that,” he said. “I don’t ever get tired of it. Playing in the NFL is a privilege and I always appreciate that. I love that my family and friends can come to a practice or game to see me.

“My dad comes to a lot of my practices to see me and my mom is off on Mondays and Fridays so she’s usually here then,” he said. “It’s great being able to see them a lot. Plus, it’s fun to see them with my wife and daughter when they’re here together.”

Although he’s not a position player, Zastudil said knowing he’s been with the team several years now and is going into his eighth year in the league overall, he can speak from experience.

“I can’t tell one of the other guys how to play their position,” he said. “But they all know I’m from Cleveland and that it means a lot to me to play for the Browns. So when I tell them what kind of fans we have and how much they love the team, they know I know what I’m talking about. It’ll mean so much to the team and the entire town when we get to the Super Bowl.”

Zastudil said he, the other players and coaching staff are continually working hard toward the goal of getting to and winning the Super Bowl. He said new head coach Eric Mangini and the rest of his staff have put a together a top program for the team.

“It’s very focused,” he said. “There’s a lot of good work and detail to it for all of us.”

Zastudil said he enjoys getting to work closely with Brad Seely, the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator.

“He’s very knowledgeable, and we do a lot in practice,” he said. “We work a lot on punting technique and other important aspects of the game.”

As a left-footed punter, Zastudil said that could play a role in how other teams have to prepare for him when he comes into the game.

“There aren’t a lot of left-footed punters in the game so it could probably come into play when there’s windy conditions in the game,” he said. “I’ve got to be aware though that the other team knows I’m left-footed. Plus, there are so many good return men out there.”

With the premium Mangini and his staff place on versatility, Zastudil, who in addition to being an all-state punter was an all-conference quarterback at Bay High School, said he’s ready if there’s a need to utilize his other athletic skills when punting or holding for place kicks.

“We have a fake punt and other plays that we do practice and would be ready to go with when there’s a need,” he said. “So if we need to do something like that I’m ready to go.”

Current Browns radio announcer, former Pro Bowl offensive tackle and longtime Bay Village resident Doug Dieken said he was aware of  Zastudil’s skills as a young athlete.

“I didn’t get a chance to see a lot of his games because my kids went to other schools but I knew Bay High had a really good kicker and a really good quarterback with Dave,” Dieken said. “That’s the thing with Dave and (placekicker) Phil Dawson, they’re not just kickers, they’re football players.”

Dieken, a former receiver at the University of Illinois before the Browns converted him to offensive tackle after drafting him in 1971, recalls having tackle eligible plays designed for him, including catching a game-winning touchdown on one such play and said having versatile athletes on special teams is important.

“You never know when that can come into play,” he said. “Having athletes like Dave and Phil is a big plus. They also give a lot back to the community and that’s big too in a place like Cleveland.”