Cristian Zendejas (born 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

who currently plays

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Early years

Zendejas attended Perry High School, in

Gilbert, Arizona Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located southeast of Phoenix within the city's metropolitan area. Incorporated on July 6, 1920, Gilbert was once known as the "Hay Shipping Capital of the World". It is the fifth-larg ...

, a Phoenix suburb. As a senior, he made 10-of-11 field goals with a long of 47 yards and 67-of-70 extra points. He received 6A first-team All-Region and first-team All-Premier Region honors.

College career

Zendejas walked-on at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2017. As a freshman in 2018, he was one of the backups behind sophomore

Brandon Ruiz Brandon Ruiz (born February 18, 1999) is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. He played college football for Mississippi State and Arizona State. Early years Ruiz attended Williams Field High School. As a senior, he made 17-of-20 ...

. As a sophomore in 2019, he became the team's starter at

, after Ruiz suffered a groin injury and was lost for the year. He began the season by making 8-for-8 in field goal attempts and was rewarded with a football scholarship after the third game against

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. He finished seventh in the nation in field goals made (23) and twentieth in field goal percentage (85.2). He tied a

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

record with 4 field goals made in a single-game. He made 23 field goals on 27 attempts, ranking seventh in the nation and first in the Pac-12 Conference. His field-goal-percentage (85.2) ranked No. 20 in the nation and he became just the fifth player in school history to make 20 or more field goals in a single-season. As a junior in 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Arizona State only played 4 contests during the season. He was 2 out of 4 with kicks from 40-plus yards and began to be platooned in the second game with redshirt freshman Jack Luckhurst. He made 2 out of 4 field goals and 9 extra point attempts. On January 6, 2021, he entered his name into the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

transfer portal. On August 28, he announced on his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account that he would be returning to the team. He appeared in 12 games, making 8 out of 11 field goals (72.7%) and 40 out of 41 extra points (97.6%). On January 24, 2022, he entered the

transfer portal for the second time in his college career.

Personal life

His father

Luis Zendejas Luis Fernando Zendejas (born October 22, 1961) is a Mexican former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Arena Football ...

played

for ASU and, later, in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

. His uncles Joaquin, Max, Tony, and Marty were also

kickers Kickers is a youth brand created in 1970 in France that produces a wide range of footwear and clothing. Kickers was bought in 2007 by the Royer group. Kickers are primarily popular amongst British school children, with Kickers 'Lo' style shoe ...

in the

. His god father Gerald Walsh also kicked in college for Hampden Sydney.

References

External links

*
Arizona State Sun Devils bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zendejas, Cristian 1999 births Living people American people of Mexican descent Sportspeople from Chandler, Arizona Players of American football from Arizona American football placekickers Arizona State Sun Devils football players