The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/111015
������ where are they now? ing their son a lesson in hard work that helped him become one of Michigan���s more decorated student-athletes of his decade. The tutoring continued under U-M head coach Lloyd Carr, helping shape who Mesko is today ��� one of the NFL���s top young punters and a multiple community service award winner for his work as a philanthropist. ���He was a huge part of it,��� Mesko said of Carr. ���He always talked about if you���re ever in the dumps, go to the children���s hospital and that will put life into perspective for you. There���s no greater feeling than going into the room of a sick kid and being able to brighten their day up, or their week ��� sometimes a month, sometimes even a year. The magic they have in their eyes for you is something you lose in adulthood. ���The aura of something greater than yourself or part of a successful football team, piggybacking on the Michigan Wolverine brand and image, and now with the New England Patriots ��� it���s kind of priceless. No one else can give you that celebrity status you feel in their eyes.��� And make no mistake, there are others who otherwise might. Mesko was invited to the premier of Academy Award-winning actor Mark Wahlberg���s ���Broken City��� recently, but he opted instead to skip it in preparation for the Jan. 20 AFC championship game against Baltimore. He recalled meeting Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) in the locker room following the Patriots��� 41-28 divisional playoff win over Houston. ���We kind of know each other,��� Mesko marveled. ���It���s cool going up to him and saying, ���Congratulations on your recent nomination as Secretary of State.��� ���It���s pretty cool what you get to do ��� and I���m a punter. It���s so funny.��� Unless he was, say, Tom Brady, however, the kids couldn���t care less if Mesko were the holder (which he also happens to be). Mesko and Tim North, his former Michigan teammate, along with his girlfriend and a few others, have done more than their share to help them, starting last June by hosting a karaoke event (���Zolioake���) that helped raise upwards of $30,000 for the Boston Children���s Hospital. What started as spreading smiles room to room at Mott Children���s Hospital in Ann Arbor with his sense of humor and self-proclaimed ���goofballishness��� has evolved into a passion, and might even have changed the course of his life. A finance and marketing major and graduate of Michigan���s prestigious Ross School of Business, Mesko has interned in New York during the offseason with eyes set on a potential Wall Street career. He���ll be back again this summer, but his experiences with his charity have opened his eyes. He���s hired a public relations firm to expand the Zoltan Mesko Foundation and plans to further expand upon his passion. Wall Street might still be in his future, but he���s exploring all of his options. This summer, he���ll attend summers at life-after-football seminars arranged by the NFL.