Football Zebras
Happy 50th birthday to Football Zebras founder Ben Austro
Austro said, “If you write a post for my 50th birthday, someone’s going to be fired.”
Happy birthday to our own Ben Austro, who turns 50 today.
“I know we feature milestone birthdays on the website,” said Austro. “But if you write a post for my 50th birthday, someone’s going to be fired.”
Ben started the site in 2009 when he wrote a post summarizing a press conference by commissioner Roger Goodell, stating that the NFL would not dare change the sudden-death overtime format. Predictions are not his strong suit. (He also said there is no way the NFL would centralize its replay system.)
Ben has been the editor-in-chief for Football Zebras for all of its existence. Between Sundays, he is the manager of labeling compliance for an import and specialty food company.
In 2015, he wrote the book So You Think You Know Football?: The Armchair Ref’s Guide to the Official Rules. The book examines the rules through real-life scenarios. It is similar to the NFL’s casebook companion to the official rules, but instead of referring to Quarterback A1, he uses names like Fran Tarkenton and Tom Brady. Ben is currently working on a second edition of the book — finally!
Oh, and to be fair, he did nail this prediction:
Ben recently moved to Jacksonville with his wife and two children, and he also has an adult stepson.
