Malik Jamaal Zaire (born February 28, 1995) is an American media personality and former
collegiate 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 ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
. He currently works for the sports media company
Overtime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:
*by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...
as on-air talent and as a producer, as well as a
color commentator
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...
for college football games on the
CBS Sports Network
CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...
. He played college football at
Notre Dame, before transferring to
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
as a graduate transfer.
Early years
Zaire attended
Archbishop Alter High School
Archbishop Alter High School, also known as Alter High School, is a Catholic high school in Kettering, Ohio, United States. It is operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati and is named after Archbishop Karl Joseph Alter.
History
...
in
Kettering, Ohio
Kettering is a city in Montgomery county in the U.S. state of Ohio. Almost entirely in Montgomery County, it is an inner suburb of Dayton, Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 57,862 (down slightly from 58,453 in 2010), maki ...
. As a senior, he earned 2012
AP Ohio Division III Southwest District Offensive Player of the Year accolades with 1,990 yards passing, 1,120 yards on the ground and 33 total touchdowns (24 passing touchdowns and nine rushing touchdowns).
He was rated by
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the third best
dual-threat quarterback
In gridiron football, a dual-threat quarterback, also known as a running quarterback, is a quarterback (QB) who possesses the skills and physique to run with the ball if necessary. With the rise of several blitz heavy defensive schemes and increa ...
in his class. Zaire committed to the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
to play
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 ...
.
College career
Notre Dame
2013 season
Zaire did not play in any games as a freshman at Notre Dame in 2013.
2014 season
Prior to his sophomore season in 2014, Zaire competed with
Everett Golson
Everett Demone Golson (born January 2, 1993) is a former American football quarterback. He previously played quarterback for Notre Dame from 2011 to the spring of 2015. Golson chose to transfer to Florida State after graduating from Notre Dame. ...
to be starting quarterback. Golson won the job with Zaire as the backup. He received his first extensive playing time against
the USC Trojans, replacing Golson, who was benched. He completed 9 of 20 passes for 170 yards and a rushing
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
in the game. After spending the entire season as Golson's backup, Zaire started the
2014 Music City Bowl
The 2014 Music City Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 30, 2014 at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee. The 17th edition of the Music City Bowl began at approximately 2:00 p.m. CST and was broadcast nationally b ...
, becoming the first
left-handed quarterback to ever start for the Fighting Irish. Zaire completed 12 of 15 passes for 96 yards with one touchdown, and ran for 96 yards on 22 carries scoring one touchdown, leading Notre Dame to a 31–28 victory over LSU and earning the game's MVP.
2015 season
The Fighting Irish opened spring practice with an open competition at quarterback, but neither Zaire or
Everett Golson
Everett Demone Golson (born January 2, 1993) is a former American football quarterback. He previously played quarterback for Notre Dame from 2011 to the spring of 2015. Golson chose to transfer to Florida State after graduating from Notre Dame. ...
separated themselves as the starter according to head coach
Brian Kelly. However, after Golson decided to transfer and play his final season at Florida State University, Zaire was named the starting quarterback. In the second game of the season, against
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, Zaire fractured his ankle after a run. It was announced after the game that he would miss the rest of the season.
2016 season
Zaire battled
DeShone Kizer
DeShone Allen Kizer (born January 3, 1996) is an American football quarterback who has played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played college football at Notre Dame and was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the secon ...
before the season for the starting quarterback position. Both shared snaps in the team's first game, a loss to Texas. Statistically Kizer had a far better game than Zaire, earning Kizer the starting quarterback position. Zaire played little during the remainder of the season. After graduating from Notre Dame in May 2017, Zaire announced that he had transferred to the University of Florida to play a fifth year in the 2017 season.
Florida
2017 season
Zaire started two games and appeared in four. He finished with an overall record of 0–2 as a starter, completing 57.1 percent of his passes for 349 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception.
Professional career
After going undrafted in the
2018 NFL Draft
The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...
, Zaire was invited to attend the
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 ...
' rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.
He did not make the Jaguars roster.
References
External links
Notre Dame profileFlorida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaire, Malik
1995 births
Living people
People from Kettering, Ohio
Players of American football from Ohio
American football quarterbacks
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players
Florida Gators football players