Q&A with Zach Sudfeld on NFL career, Pack-pro pipeline and Fajardo

Former Wolf Pack tight end Zach Sudfeld, now with the New York Jets, is used to community outreach.

Not only did he earn the Jets' "Good Guy Award" last season for his off-the-field work, but he's also been to Romania, Hungary, Germany, Myanmar, Thailand and Africa on humanitarian efforts with his family's organization, Assist International. And while Sudfeld is headed to Africa in a couple of weeks, his community outreach this week was a little less intensive.

The 25-year-old, who just finished his second season in the NFL, was in Reno on Monday to visit Traner Middle School and Veterans Memorial Elementary School as part of the Northern Nevada Dairymen and NFL's Fuel Up to Play 60 celebration of School Breakfast Week. Sudfeld spoke to both schools about the important of eating well and education while taking questions from the eager students.

"Growing up, we were always eating oatmeal and healthy stuff," Sudfeld said. "And then we went to a friend's house and discovered happy meals from McDonald's and we said, 'What is this stuff right here?' We had no idea. Unfortunately, we discovered those, but it wasn't around for long with my mom."

Sudfeld's mom cracked the whip on healthy eating, and Sudfeld made the same pitch to the students. After the events, Sudfeld spent some time with the media to talk about his next trip to Africa, his sophomore season in the NFL, the Wolf Pack's pro pipeline and Cody Fajardo's NFL chances.

Here's a portion of the conversation:

RGJ: You do a lot of community outreach programs. What is the biggest thing you get from these?

Zach Sudfeld: "It's so cool to come and not so much give back but experience being back in a middle or elementary school. I remember vividly being that age and loving sports, wanting to play sports and just being able to see people come in and take different things from their lives. Any time I get an opportunity to do something like that, I really enjoy it and I feel like I get more out of it than the kids do."

RGJ: You said you were going back to Africa: What's the project this time?

ZS: "My whole family is coming out and we're building an orphan home in Uganda and we're naming it after my grandfather (Bob Pagett), who started the organization 25 years ago. So, it's the 25th anniversary and we're doing this big thing. It's during my younger brother Nate's spring break at Indiana (Nate is Indiana's starting QB), so we have the whole crew going out and we're looking forward to it."

RGJ: So, you became a special teams star on the Jets this season (15 tackles): How'd that develop?

ZS: "It's funny. During the offseason, I had high aspirations at tight end. At the end of my rookie year, I was kind of ascending and playing more and more. Then they draft a kid (tight end Jace Amaro) in the second round, and it was, 'OK. I have to get back to work and figure out how to make the team.' I felt like I had a good camp, but for whatever reason I wasn't out there. The first game, I was on kickoff return. On kick coverage, somebody got banged up and I ran out there and said, 'I got it.' The special teams coach said, 'OK. Fine. We need somebody.' I actually made the tackle and I was like, 'I can do this,' and what a rush it was. Pretty soon I was on every special teams and leading the team in special teams tackles. It was crazy. I had never tackled somebody before. But it really was about creating value for the team and trying to give myself more value to stay on the roster. You have to create value."

RGJ: What's it like to be the tackler instead of the guy being tackled?

ZS: "It was crazy. I've never worked technique or anything. I just tried to run out there and wrestle them to the ground. There's not a whole lot of technique involved in my tackling as a lot of the coaches and defensive guys would point out. But it was fun. Looking forward to this next season, hopefully I'll be able to do both (play tight end more and star on special teams)."

RGJ: There are 12 former Wolf Pack teammates of yours in the NFL. What's it like to play against them?

ZS: "It's the coolest thing. Every week, it seems like we'll play another Wolf Pack guy. We played the Titans. I had a long catch and run that got called back. The next play, we were punting. I was on the punt team and it was Kaelin Burnett and Dontay Moch (two ex-Nevada teammates) on the other side and we were just laughing the entire time. We were kind of joking around. It was really cool. It's been a great experience and the Wolf Pack is so well represented in the NFL right now, it's really cool. There are a lot of Nevada guys spread out around the league, so it's like every week you're playing someone."

RGJ: Did you think that was possible when you were at Nevada?

ZS: "I had no idea. When I got to Nevada, I don't think I ever understood the difficulty of making it in the NFL. When you're a kid, you just see the stars and don't see what it took to get there. And a lot of things have to go right for you. You have to have a lot of opportunity. To see all of these Wolf Pack guys in the NFL, I didn't expect it. But people know the kind of guy you get coming from Nevada. There's a positive perception of what a Nevada player is like in the NFL. Somebody who's going to go in and work hard."

RGJ: Why do you think Cody Fajardo has a shot to stick in the NFL?

ZS: "I tell my younger brother this and I've told Cody this: It's the toughest position in any sport in the world. There's a lot of scrutiny. The whole team is riding on you. You have to know what every player is doing. Honestly, I don't think I could do it. It's a lot to take in. You have to be first guy in and last guy out. But I'm really excited for Cody. From a pure athlete standpoint, he's phenomenal. He throws a great ball, one of the most pleasant footballs to catch. That helped me out my senior year. I really think he has a great shot. He's really rising. And I've talked to some scouts who ask about him in passing. It's a really tough league to crack into, especially at quarterback, but he's going to get a shot and I think he's really going to run with it. I'm excited for him."

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at cmurray@rgj.com or follow him on Twitter @MurrayRGJ.