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Zach Von Rosenberg

Vikings Waive P Zach Von Rosenberg

June 15th, 2021 at 8:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

Zach Von Rosenberg‘s hopes of going from minor league baseball to the NFL hit a snag Tuesday. The Vikings’ Sheldon Richardson signing led to the departure of the aspiring punter.

Minnesota waived Von Rosenberg on Tuesday, leaving Britton Colquitt as the only punter on the team’s 90-man roster. Colquitt has held the Vikes’ punting job for the past two seasons.

Von Rosenberg spent six years in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ farm system, going from rookie league to the High-A level. The former sixth-round MLB pick spent time as a starter and a reliever in this span but left baseball after the 2014 season.

The Vikings signed the pitcher-turned-punter as a UDFA in May. Von Rosenberg, now 30, spent the past four seasons as LSU’s punter. He ended his Baton Rouge run with two second-team All-SEC honors. The rest of the NFL will have a chance to claim the developmental specialist on waivers.

Vikings Sign P Zach Von Rosenberg

May 3rd, 2021 at 8:04pm CST by Ben Levine

We don’t usually write full articles for undrafted free agent signings, but this one is too good not to pass along. Today, the Vikings agreed to terms with punter Zach Von Rosenberg (via Chris Tomasson of TwinCities.com). What makes this signing so unique? Von Rosenberg is a 30-year-old former minor league pitcher.

The veteran/rookie punter had spent the past four seasons punting for LSU, averaging 44 yards per punt on 193 attempts. That included a 2020 campaign where he got plenty of opportunities to put his play on tape. Despite appearing in only nine games, Von Rosenberg collected 59 punts, the second-highest total in all of college football.

Prior to his collegiate football career, Von Rosenberg was a prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. The pitcher spent five years with the organization (2009-14), going 15-25 in a career that never saw him never elevating above Single A baseball.

Von Rosenberg will now have an opportunity to put together a Disney-movie-worthy career. As Tomasson writes, the rookie will have a legitimate chance to unseat starter Britton Colquitt, who reworked his contract this offseason to avoid being cut. The team also invited undrafted free agent Oscar Bradburn to rookie minicamp, but a source tells Tomasson that the Virginia Tech product might not attend.