A football team's kicker rarely makes the headlines, let alone its punter. That's not the case at the University of Michigan where Zoltan Mesko is grabbing headlines, heading to the NFL and living the American Dream as a Romanian immigrant.
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ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - Zoltan Mesko was born and raised in Timisoara , Romania. Like his parents, Mihai and Elizabeta, he speaks both languages fluently.
When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, travel improved dramatically behind the Iron Curtain - but not for Romanians. Zoltan's parents, both engineers, could not leave the country until they won Romania's Green Card lottery -- yes, they had one - in 1997.
They quickly discovered Hollywood's depiction of America didn't quite match their apartment in Queens. It was dirty and cramped - even for three people -- and so expensive, they moved to Twinsburg, Ohio, near Cleveland.
Zoltan learned English in about two months. His parents took two years, but understanding American culture took a little longer.
When Mesko's class played kickball inside the gym one day, he boomed the ball so high it shattered a ceiling light. The teacher gave him a choice: "You're either going to pay for that light, or you're going to play football."
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