31 Days to Purdue Football: Nick Zecchino

After there was no. #33 or #32 on the roster for the weekend posts we are back, and today’s player is a long time well established starter at a specialty position.

Nick Zecchino - Sr. (6)

Cedar Grove, NJ (Cedar Grove HS)

6’, 210 pounds

Long Snapper

2022 Projection: Starter

Zecchino has been around college football a long time. In fact, he has been around as long as 7th year player Semisi Fakasiieiki. Zecchino began his career at UConn in 2016, where he started all 12 games for the Huskies as a true freshman long snapper. He then missed all but one game of the next two seasons with some hefty health issues:

Their son was about to play in a college football game 10 months following his third surgery for ulcerative colitis, which ravaged his body and sliced his weight 55 pounds to 145 in a span of about 90 days at the end of the 2016 season while at Connecticut.

“I’m out there playing football against Nevada in the first game, which was fantastic. It was awesome,” Nick said. “I know it was Nevada and everything – it wasn’t a huge grand stage – but it was one where I was getting goosebumps in the locker room. I couldn’t even believe it.”

After battling that it is amazing he has been able to return to the field. He transferred to Purdue, where he wont he long snapper job in 2019 and has been the starter ever since. Thanks yo a redshirt year, medical waivers, and the free extra year due to COVID he is able to comeback for one more season. He has twice been an Academic all-Big Ten selection and he is currently riding a streak of 31 consecutive starts.