As someone who grew up in New England during the Patriots’ dynasty, falling in love with football came naturally for Zach Smith.
A relative bought him the “NFL Sunday Ticket” television package for his eighth birthday. That hooked him further. But the gift he cherished every year was the latest edition of the NFL’s record and fact book.
Learning the history of the game mesmerized him; nothing beat watching records fall. Peyton Manning breaking Dan Marino’s single-season touchdown mark during the 2004 season was the catalyst for his fascination with football players reaching new heights. And the way statistics have changed over the years, especially with the emergence of dual-threat quarterbacks, has kept him invested in the numbers.
That fascination with numbers and records eventually landed Smith his dream job: Now 27, he is one of the NFL’s ace statisticians based at league headquarters in New York.
He is also autistic.
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‘Having been an avid football fan for the last 21 years,’ Smith said, ‘I can’t imagine life without football and I can’t imagine anywhere else I’d rather be on Sunday: watching football, whether on the couch or in my case right now, working the games.’
Zach’s story
Smith was diagnosed with autism when he was just 2 1/2 years old.
For most of his life, he wouldn’t even say that word, his father, Bob, said. But now he’s become a champion for others like him since his employment with the NFL.
“It was something he kinda knew, but didn’t really own,” Bob told USA TODAY Sports. “It was in the college years when he started to own it and became an advocate for it.”
The advocacy happened through – and thanks to – Best Buddies International, the non-profit organization that provides resources for youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The Best Buddies Job Program, which helps people with IDD earn an income and support themselves, placed Smith with the NFL. On Feb. 9, he worked his fourth Super Bowl for the league.
Smith became involved in Best Buddies through the local chapter at Westborough High School in Massachusetts. By his sophomore year, he was the school’s Buddy Director. In college, at Worcester State University, he said he lost that feeling of community but later reconnected with the organization after moving to the New York area (Smith resides across the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey.) The Best Buddies events he attends now are karaoke nights and picnics at public parks and other social gatherings, such as pizza gatherings or jogs.
And Best Buddies means much more to Smith than just helping him start his career in sports statistics.
“Anthony Shriver did the right thing when he started it at Georgetown all those years ago. He’s done an amazing thing,” Smith told USA TODAY Sports, referencing the Best Buddies founder who is a nephew of President John F. Kennedy. “It’s really touched the lives of so many people.’
How he reached the NFL
When Smith was in college, his family reached out to Best Buddies after struggling to find an internship for Zach. They met with an employee from Best Buddies who said internships were tough to secure, but that permanent employment was the organization’s priority. They kept in touch until Zach graduated from Worcester State magna cum laude with a degree in communications and a minor in writing.
“That’s where the whole NFL connection came,” Smith’s mother, Michele, said.
Michele Smith was in the house the day he interviewed with the NFL. Sitting silently downstairs, she listened while Zach was pummeled with football questions. Zach answered each one efficiently and effectively, she said.
“They even said at the end, ‘We never even had someone go through that many questions during an interview’ because they kept asking and he kept answering,” Michele recalled.
At the NFL, Smith helped launch an employee resource group (ERG) called “NFL Able” for employees with neurocognitive disabilities (or for those with family members diagnosed with one), a first-of-its-kind ERG in the league. Smith helped come up with the group’s logo and commissioner Roger Goodell attended the launch party. In 2025, Smith hopes the group can fundraise more and become better-established.
‘We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League, and we’re going to continue those efforts because we’ve not only convinced ourselves, I think we’ve proven ourselves that it does make the NFL better,’ Goodell said at his annual Super Bowl news conference earlier this month.
Smith said it’s important to “continue to build on that mantra” and make sure all applicants for roles are noticed, accepted for interviews and considered in the hiring process.
“And making sure if they do get hired, that they are accepted into the workplace and make sure they have enough support so that when they start work, that they know what to do and what areas they may need help in,” Smith said.
Working at the NFL
Smith’s role, his manager Ollie Auerbach explained, is to validate all game and play statistics and data as they come in. He said in Smith’s four seasons with the league, nobody has inputted more “perfect” games – no corrections made after the fact – than Smith.
Auerbach described Smith as a hard worker who wants every shift possible, whether games are on the West Coast or Germany.
“I remember seeing his resume or his application and, honestly, when we look for individuals, we’re constantly looking for tie-ins to football or involvement in sports and statistics,” Auerbach told USA TODAY Sports. “Obviously, it’s a unique position where we’re looking for people that really know the game of football.”
Smith is the one who brings doughnuts or bagels for his colleagues on those early Sundays, or candy on Halloween. On game days, before he leaves, he’s always sure to find Auerbach and say goodbye.
“It’s kind of funny,” Auerbach said, “you don’t think about something like that, but not every person does that. It’s always nice in a stressful environment that we are in. Obviously, the pressure could be high. He always puts things in perspective, too.”
Smith has perfectionist tendencies, but he’s learning it’s impossible to always be flawless. Maximum effort is what matters.
“Accuracy means putting in the best you can do in all areas … in this job I’m in now, it’s important to be perfect, but any small mistakes you may make along the way, those aren’t a big deal,” he said, “as long as they’re not awful mistakes that we miss on game days.”
Working in New York City
The Smiths said they assumed Zach would live with them his whole life, and they don’t want other families to fall into the same thinking. With better education and information for parents and increased life-skills training for those with autism, more could benefit. Looking at Zach now, his promise and potential would have been unfulfilled.
Bob and Michele did have questions, like, ”How is he going to cook dinner?” when Zach was hired.
‘For him to get the job and just flat-out move to the city, we were kind of panicking,’ Bob said.
But Zach fell in love with New York City, and his determination made Bob realize that fretting over the move wasn’t necessary.
“He was so set on that, that he really has so impressed us with the ability to be on his own in such a big city,” Bob said.
Zach ran the New York City Marathon in November and achieved his goal of finishing under the four-hour mark. According to his watch, he clocked in at 3:59:30 – and there’s little reason to believe it’s an inaccurate stat.
There are challenges, such as exacerbated sensory issues while commuting to one of the world’s busiest cities. Strangers approaching him isn’t always easy. A weekly family FaceTime call includes his sister, Kathryn, who has a close relationship with Zach and is studying to become a school psychologist. During that call, they’re all able to talk through hurdles he may be facing.
Michele works in special education and encourages those with an intellectual disability who have a “focus-interest” – in Zach’s case, sports and statistics – to try to translate that into a career.
“A lot of places are hiring kids on the spectrum – whiz kids with math, etc.,” Michele said. “Everybody has their strength. And of course when you’re dealing with autism, you have weaknesses; you have to just kind of really focus on the strengths and then parlay that strength, like Zach did, into a potential job or career.”
Catching a touchdown from the GOAT
In addition to his association with the NFL, Smith has something in common with Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Randy Moss.
Catching a touchdown from the GOAT.
In 2014, when Zach was 17, he played in the Best Buddies: Tom Brady Football Challenge for charity at Harvard. Brady was the universal quarterback, and Smith took the field in the fourth quarter.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion found Smith over the middle near the end of the game. Smith caught it with his chest in the end zone for a touchdown and celebrated with a “Gronk-spike.’
“I had my shining moment, getting a high-five,” said Smith, who loves to re-watch the clip.
Shortly after he was hired by the NFL, Smith appeared in a 10-minute “Good Morning Football” segment. His touchdown was featured during the show.
Brady posted the highlight on his Instagram story after Smith joined the NFL stats team. “Congrats Zach!!” Brady wrote in the caption. “Keep up the great work.”
Brady can count on that, as Smith keeps stats for the sport he loves.