Chandler Zavala: 'I would just like to have a fair chance'
All Chander Zavala wants is to catch a break.
Earlier this winter, the NCAA denied a waiver for Zavala to get an extra season of eligibility, but his case is not a simple one.
He’s still in Raleigh and appealing the decision, hoping that the NCAA will take a deeper and fuller look at his circumstances to understand why he deserves another year.
The reasoning dates back to Zavala’s earliest football playing days, which were actually not that long ago.
Zavala only decided to play football as a way to honor his grandparents, who loved the sport and passed away when he was approaching his senior year at Forest Park High in Woodbridge, Va. At 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, Zavala showed enough natural potential that Division II Fairmont State, in the small town of Fairmont, W.Va., took a chance on him.
“The plan was when I got to Fairmont was to redshirt my freshman year,” Zavala recalled.
Seemingly further solidifying that course of action was when Zavala injured his knee after arriving at Fairmont, but instead circumstances led to Zavala getting on the field for three games before he was shut down because of the injury.
Zavala would play the next two seasons at Fairmont, developing into a blossoming standout on the offensive line and even earning chatter as a small-school NFL Draft prospect. But when Fairmont State canceled a planned five-game spring season during the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020-21, Zavala went into the transfer portal and enrolled at NC State.
He would play five games for the Wolfpack in 2021, earning ACC Co-Offensive Lineman of the Week honors for his performance in a win over Furman. A back injury that required surgery shut him down after that.
Zavala wants the NCAA to, in essence, give him his freshman year at Fairmont State back, especially when he claims a recent trip to the doctor revealed that the knee injury he sustained there was more serious than originally thought. According to Zavala, he should not have played that year.
“I thought the doctor’s note would be enough, but [the NCAA] wanted stuff from the trainer,” Zavala noted, referring to the training staff at Fairmont State. “I am trying to get the NCAA to instead of look at the amount of years I have played, just look at the amount of games I have played compared to others.
“I have only played a total of 30 games through five years. I literally played [about] two seasons of full football.”
Zavala has the NFL Draft as an option, but a full year to prove himself at NC State could do wonders for his stock, which is why his strong first preference would be to be back at Carter-Finley Stadium in the fall.
He has the support of his teammates, who have taken to social media with the hashtag #LetChandlerPlay.
Good news would also be welcomed. The NCAA denial is far from the only adversity Zavala has been forced to deal with recently. His father, Demetrio, had a life-risking medical emergency shortly before the NC State team traveled west for the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl in December.
Zavala’s aunt, his after-school caregiver when he was growing up in Florida while waiting for his parents to finish work, is battling cancer.
“She pretty much raised me,” Zavala noted.
Hence why Zavala could use a good break.
“I would love to come back,” he said. “I would just like to have a fair chance. I feel great physically.
“There is a lot going on, and this would just help everything.”
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