Joseph Zema (born August 10, 1994) is an Australian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

punter for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL).

University career

Zema played

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 the

Incarnate Word Cardinals The Incarnate Word Cardinals, also known as UIW Cardinals, are composed of 23 teams representing the University of the Incarnate Word in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & div ...

in 2017 as a graduate transfer from

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

Professional career

San Antonio Commanders

Following his college career, Zema had tryouts with the

National Football League 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 ...

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

, but was not signed. Instead, he signed with the

San Antonio Commanders The San Antonio Commanders were a professional American football franchise based in San Antonio, Texas, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019. The team played their home ga ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

in 2019 where he had 37 punts with a 45.8-yard average. His contract was terminated following the dissolution of the league on April 2, 2019.

Montreal Alouettes

Zema was declared eligible for the

2021 CFL Global Draft The 2021 CFL Global Draft took place on April 15, 2021 and was the first CFL Draft that pooled all of the global players together after previously having separate drafts for Mexican players and European players in 2019. 36 players were chosen fr ...

where he was drafted sixth overall by the

. He then signed with the team on June 8, 2021. He earned the job as the team's punter following training camp and played in all 14 regular season games where he punted 90 times with a 45.2-yard average. In

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, Zema continued his strong play where he played in all 18 regular season games and had 85 punts with a 47.3-yard average.

Personal life

Murray was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, to parents Nick and Antonietta Zema. He has one brother, Matthew.

References

External links

Montreal Alouettes bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zema, Joseph 1994 births Living people American football punters Australian players of American football Australian players of Canadian football Canadian football punters Incarnate Word Cardinals football players Montreal Alouettes players San Antonio Commanders players Sportspeople from Melbourne People educated at Whitefriars College