Zach Banner

Banner was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth round (137th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. He became the first Chamorro drafted in an NFL draft. He also was the tallest lineman drafted since Maryland’s Jared Gaither (6-9, 340) in 2007. He was easily the biggest lineman on the Colts' roster. Rob Rang, a senior NFL Draft analyst from NFLDraftScout.com, observed: "He is a massive, massive human being. To be that big, and also that light on his feet, is rare." The Colts had obtained the pick used to select Banner by trading tight end Dwayne Allen to the New England Patriots. Chuck Pagano, the Colts' coach, said: "It’s like an eclipse. He’s a giant. It’s scary how big this guy is. He can barely fit into the locker room." After weeks of training camp, Banner made the Colts’ 53-man roster. However, one day later, after other waived players from other teams became available, on September 3, 2017, Banner was waived by the Colts.

Banner attended Lakes High School, where he was a two-time football All-American offensive lineman on the Lancers football team, and played two seasons at left tackle. He was named the Lancers' Most Inspirational Player when he was a freshman, and still a bench player. As a junior in 2010, he made USA Today All-USA first team, Max Preps All-American second team, Max Preps All-American Medium Schools first team, Max Preps Junior All-American first team, and All-State 3-A first team.

His 2011 honors as a senior included USA Today All-USA first team, Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, Sports Illustrated All-American first team, Max Preps All-American second team, Max Preps All-American Medium Schools first team, Prep Star Top 150 Dream Team, ESPNU 150, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-West, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Seattle Times All-State, Orange County Register Fab 15 first team, Tacoma News Tribune Northwest Nuggets, and Tacoma News Tribune All-Area first team. He was a finalist for the 2012 Watkins Award, by the National Alliance of African American Athletes, honoring the top African-American student athlete in the nation. Regarded as a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was ranked as the No. 2 offensive tackle in his class, behind only D. J. Humphries. He was rated the 16th-best prospect in the country by Rivals.com.

He red-shirted in 2012. Banner played only two games during his red-shirted freshman 2013 season, as the back-up offensive tackle against Hawaii and Boston College, before being ruled out for the season due to an injury to both hips that required two hip surgeries. He had been born with a condition known as femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) that involved extra bone growth on his hips, that prevented him from squatting past 90 degrees, and had corrective hip surgery to address the problem.

Banner also played basketball for USC in 2013, but did not see any playing time. Banner joined the historically Jewish, fraternity Zeta Beta Tau, whose members reflected a broad range of ethnicities and races, and majored in Sociology. He won the USC Trojans’ community service award.

In 2014 as a sophomore Banner played every game at right tackle and was College Football News Sophomore All-American honorable mention. In 2015 as a junior he was First Team All-Pac-12, Associated Press All-Pac 12 second-team, Phil Steele's All-Pac-12 second-team, CollegeSportsMadness.com All-American third-team, and won USC's Offensive Lineman of the Year Award. He started all 14 games and his main position was at right tackle, but he started two games at left tackle during his junior year against Utah and Wisconsin. In 2015 he allowed only nine total pressures on 426 pass attempts, according to Pro Football Focus, which graded him as the season's top pass-blocking right tackle, and the 15th-best run-blocking right tackle.

As a senior in 2016, and captain of the team, he was again All-Pac-12 first-team, was CollegeSportsMadness.com All American first-team, Senior CLASS Award All-American first-team, Phil Steele All-Pac-12 first-team, a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award (given to the nation's top senior excelling in community/classroom/character/competition), and was the team's Co-Offensive Lineman of the Year. He was the largest player in college football; at one point in 2015 the 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) Banner weighed 385 pounds (175 kilograms). He played in the Senior Bowl in January 2017.

On September 4, 2017, less than 24 hours after he was waived, Banner was claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Browns. Banner played in Cleveland's last 8 games, taking a combined 27 snaps on offense and 18 snaps on special teams. He was released on March 15, 2018.

Banner created the B3Foundation in 2017. It supports students in Guam, Tacoma, Washington, and Los Angeles both academically and athletically.

On March 16, 2018, Banner was claimed off waivers by the Carolina Panthers. He was waived by the Panthers on May 31, 2018.

Banner was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers on August 12, 2018. He played 22% of offensive snaps for the Steelers, in 14 games (one start, in Week 12), in 2019. He played his first game for the Steelers on September 15 against Seattle, and made his first NFL start on November 24 against Cincinnati. He had 24 pass protection reps, during which he did not allow a single pressure, quarterback sack, hurry, or quarterback hit. Banner became a cult hero who was featured in viral videos showing the team's largest player running downfield and flattening linebackers and defensive backs who got in his way, known to many fans as "No. 72" because he would be announced as "No. 72 is reporting as eligible" at home games, which was met with increasingly loud cheers and ovations throughout the season.

Banner re-signed with the Steelers for a one-year, $1.75 million contract on March 18, 2020. Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette opined that it was one of the Steelers' most underrated moves, as Banner could compete for right tackle as he "has good feet, he’s athletic ... and he definitely has size.... He has a chance to be an excellent tackle if he keeps working at it.... run blocking is what he clearly does well." He entered the 2020 season as the Steelers starting right tackle. He suffered a torn ACL in Week 1 and was placed on season-ending injured reserve on September 16, 2020.