Zackary Patrick Kuntz (born June 4, 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

for 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 ...

of 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 ...

(NFL). He 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 ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

and

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

Early years

Kuntz was born on June 6, 1999, in

Camp Hill, Pennsylvania Camp Hill is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. It is southwest of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area. The population was 7,888 at the 2010 census. There are many large corporations bas ...

. He attended

Camp Hill High School Camp Hill High School is a coeducational public high school located in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Camp Hill School District and is the smallest public high school in Cumberland County. It is located approximately ten minutes from t ...

, where he was a member of their basketball, football, and track & field teams. He had 49 receptions for 793 yards and 11 touchdowns during his sophomore season. As a senior, Kuntz caught 40 passes for 1,060 yards and nine touchdowns. He also won the Pennsylvania Class AA Championship in the

110-meter hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

as a junior. Kuntz was rated a four-star recruit and committed to play

over offers from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

College career

Kuntz enrolled early and joined the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interco ...

in January 2018. He played in one game and caught one pass for eight yards before redshirting his true freshman season. Kuntz played in all 13 of Penn State's games, primarily on special teams, and had two receptions for 18 yards on offense. After his redshirt sophomore season, Kuntz transferred to

. In his first season with the Monarchs, he caught 73 passes for 692 yards and five touchdowns and was named first-team All-

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

Professional career

Kuntz was selected in the seventh round of the

2023 NFL Draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

by the

. He was waived on August 29, 2023 and re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 27.

References

External links

Old Dominion Monarchs bioPenn State Nittany Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuntz, Zack 1999 births Living people People from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania American football tight ends Penn State Nittany Lions football players Old Dominion Monarchs football players New York Jets players