Zak Lyle Zinter (born April 17, 2001) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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for the

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of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

, winning three consecutive Big Ten Conference titles and a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in 2023. He was a three-time All-Big Ten selection and a

unanimous All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honorific college football all-star team compiled after each NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season to recognize that season's most outstanding performers at their respective positions. ...

. Zinter was selected by the Browns in the third round of the

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Early life

Zinter was born in

Port St. Lucie, Florida Port St. Lucie is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. It is the most-populous municipality in the county and the sixth-most populous city in Florida, with a population of 204,851 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city in ...

on April 17, 2001, the son of Paul and Tiffany Zinter. He lived in Florida until middle school, when his family moved to

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European colonizati ...

. Zinter attended St. John’s Prep for the first two years of his high school career, before transferring to

Buckingham Browne & Nichols Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, often referred to as BB&N, is an independent co-educational day school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, educating students from pre-kindergarten (called Beginners) through twelfth grade. Graduates of the schoo ...

. He played both

and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, excelling at both. Zinter was a three-year starter along the offensive line, with one year at St. John’s Prep and two at BB&N. As a junior, he led BB&N to an 8-1 record and title game appearances in the

Independent School League Independent School League or ISL may refer to: * Independent School League (Illinois), a group of nine Chicago-area preparatory schools * Independent School League (New England), a group of 16 New England preparatory schools * Independent School ...

and New England championships. Zinter was a two-time Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association All-State selection,

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All-Massachusetts in 2018, and on the Super 26 All-State Team in 2019. He was also the NEPSAC All-New England Lineman of the Year in 2019. As a junior, he was the NEPSAC New England State Shot Put Champion, breaking and still holding his school record with a distance of 49’-7”. PrepStar Magazine listed Zinter as a Top 150 Dream Team member, rated as the top prospect in Massachusetts, the 17th-best offensive tackle in the country and the nation’s 123rd overall recruit. He committed to play college football at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, over Notre Dame, Ohio State and Boston College.

College career

Zinter enrolled at the

in 2020. As a true freshman, he started 4 games for Michigan. In 2021, he was part of Michigan's offensive line that won the

Joe Moore Award The Joe Moore Award is awarded annually to the best college football offensive line unit. The award is presented by the Joe Moore Foundation for Teamwork, and they state that "The Joe Moore Award for the Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit will ...

. Zinter started 12 games and was named second-team All-Big Ten. In 2022, Zinter started 14 games, and was selected by the conference coaches as a first-team offensive guard on the All-Big Ten team. All three of Michigan's interior offensive lineman (Zinter,

Olusegun Oluwatimi Olusegun Oluwatimi (born August 5, 1999) is an American professional football center for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers and the Michigan Wolverines. He was an All- ...

, and Trevor Keegan) were named to the first-team by the conference coaches. In doing so Michigan won back-to-back

’s, and Zinter was named to the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that g ...

watch list. On November 25, 2023, in the victory against

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Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, Zinter sustained a broken

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

and

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

and was taken off the field on a cart. He missed the remainder of the season. Despite the injury, Zinter started 12 games for Michigan’s national championship team, was selected to the All-Big Ten team for a third consecutive season, and was named a

in 2023.

Professional career

Zinter was selected 85th overall by the

in the third round of the

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bio

Michigan Wolverines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zinter, Zak 2001 births Living people American football offensive guards Cleveland Browns players Michigan Wolverines football players All-American college football players People from North Andover, Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts