A camper keeps his eye on the ball during the Bay Rocket youth football camp last week. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

Rocket glad to be back home
By Zachary Dzurick
Sports
Published July 26, 2006

Click here for an archive of West Life Sports Editor Zachary Dzurick's "Red Right 88" weekly columns.

Bay High School head football coach Gary Sherwood takes no credit for one of his protégées, Dave Zastudil, making it to the NFL.

"People ask me all the time if I had any idea that Dave was that good of a punter," Sherwood said. "I was the offensive coordinator and he was the quarterback so we were both ticked every time we punted the ball. I never watched him punt in high school. People know him now as a punter but he is a great all-around athlete. Besides being our quarterback, he punted, he kicked and played some safety when we needed him. He was the first baseman on the baseball team and the center on the basketball team. It was only when he got to college that I really watched him punt. And I was like, I guess he is pretty good."

That “pretty good” translated into Zastudil being named a four-time All-MAC first time punter, an All-American his senior year and then drafted in the fourth round by the Baltimore Ravens.

After playing four years for the hated Ravens, Zastudil was one of several Cleveland-born-and-bred NFL players to sign a free agent contract with the Browns. But Zastudil did not only return to play football, he intends to become an active part of the community where he grew up. Last week, he spoke at the Bay High football camp. He talked to the campers about how it was important to play not only for yourself and your team, but also for the players that came before you and that it was important to play for fun. The biggest cheer of the talk was when Zastudil said he would soon replace the signed Ravens jersey on the wall of the high school with a Browns jersey.

Browns new free agent punter Dave Zastudil poses with campers after he spoke during the Rocket youth football camp. Zastudil was a three-year starter at quarterback and led the Rockets to their last conference championship in 1996. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

"Baltimore is a great organization," Zastudil said. "But when it came to picking between the Browns and the Ravens, there was no decision."

Is there added pressure playing in front of the home folks?

"There is always pressure in the NFL, whether you like it or not you want to play for your friends and family but you are really playing for the city and the coaches," he said. "If you don't play well, you are going to get fired. That I get to play in Cleveland is a bonus. Everyone would love to play for their home team. If I can come home and play well and help this team then I will be on all-time high."

Sherwood said it was a great experience for the campers to listen to Zastudil.

Former Bay High quarterback and current Cleveland Browns punter Dave Zastudil spoke to campers at the Rockets’ youth football camp. (Photos by Larry Bennet)

"Kids need to see people who are rock solid," Sherwood said. "As good as he is as a player, he is better as a person. He has never forgotten where he came from. He always comes back. As I always say good things happen to good people who work hard. Dave has such a strong core and basic value system even though, even with the success he has had, he is the exactly the same guy. Obviously he is an adult now but he goes about his business the same way."

Zastudil said he wants to be active in the community he grew up in.

"I would like to help in any way I can," he said. "With the football team doing things like I did today or helping out at the high school in any way they need, whether it is to talk or they have an auction or need help to raise money. When I get together and talk to my old high school friends, we say if we could get one more chance to put the pads on for one last time, it would not be in the pros or college, we would be in our high school uniforms because that is where it all started."

He still has many close ties to the Bay football program.

"One of the current coaches, Chris O'Brien I played with," Zastudil said. "Coach Sherwood was my quarterback coach and I still talk to my head coach , Coach Kaiser, who is an all-time legend. I had a great experience here and I was surrounded by great coaches and great people. It is fun to come back because of the great memories."

Zastudil was a three-year starter at quarterback for the Rockets, but it is his senior year that remains one of the most memorable Bay football seasons of all time.

"We had a very good football team that year and won the conference," Sherwood said. "Benedictine knocked off St. Edward the last week of the season and if they don't we make the state playoffs."

"We worked so hard and we knew that our class once we were seniors was going to be a good team," Zastudil said. "We lost two close games but still won the conference. If the system was like it was now, we would have been in the playoffs and who knows how far we would have went."

One of the most memorable games came in week nine. Bay was 6-2 (4-1) and a game behind undefeated Olmsted Falls. The Rockets trounced the Bulldogs 27-7 to gain a share of the conference title.

"Those are fun memories," Zastudil said. "We always joke about how we beat them 27-7 and to still not get in the playoffs how the system was kind of wrong. "

Zastudil said he still runs into his former rivals from high school including fellow NFL player Kevin Houser. In high school, Houser was a Westlake defensive end trying to sack Zastudil the quarterback. Now Houser is a long snapper and Zastudil is a punter.

"I just saw Kevin on the golf course," Zastudil said. "We still talk about the high school days. It is fun to get together and talk about high school football."

Both also give back to the community. Houser has his Life's A Snap foundation. While in Baltimore, Zastudil was a part of Kick for Cure that helped raise money for cancer research.

"I thought it was a cool idea," he said. "Every kick inside the 20, a certain amount of money was donated to fight cancer. I would like to start a foundation here and I have an idea of what I want to do. I just have to take the next step."