Would Someone Please Start A School For Punters
by Brandon on Mar 17, 2010 12:10 AM CDT
in Green Bay Packers News
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PrintThe Green Bay Packers just signed my new best mate from Australia, from JS Online.com:
The Packers have signed a punter, former Australian Rules Football player Chris Bryan to a three-year contract, according to his agent/coach Nathan Chapman.
Yes, a three-year contract, though it's certainly for minimum wage with no guarantees. Apparently it's a good time to be a free agent punter:
"It's a bad market," an AFC coach said. "Hunter Smith is the guy to go after. I still think he's pretty good. I feel the same way about Masthay that I do about Kapinos. You sure want somebody else in there."
The dearth of punters led Houston on March 8 to re-sign Matt Turk, 41, for one year at $1.85 million.
How hard can it be to develop a punter? Obviously he has to be a good athlete, but a good punter doesn't exactly need coaching. It's more like they need a trainer. And you can select from the entire NCAA pool of athletes. Can't the NFL informally nudge some ex-punter/kicker into scouting year-round for punter and kicker prospects, he can spend three or four weeks training them in the spring, and then schedule a punter/kicker Pro Day sometime before the April draft? It sounds like the audition organized by Gary Zauner in March is halfway there, but they need to do something like a bigger version of what Nathan Chapman is doing in Australia to get these guys ready for the NFL. Or maybe P Matt Turk doesn't want the competition.
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Haha Brandon, I wonder the same thing! Can it really be hard to find a guy who can punt the ball 40-50 yards? I mean seriously.
Hahaha I know, I know. They gotta be able to make the ball hang and punt directionally as well but still! I mean of the 100+ DI college teams and even DII and DIII schools, you would have to think a team could find a punter who could do all of those things, or at least do them ok. Watching Crapinos last year punt was almost painful.
by packallday555 on Mar 17, 2010 3:17 PM CDT up reply actions
is he a rugby style punter?
I loved Rhys Lloyd when he punted for the Gophers… except for that whole dropped punt against Wisconsin thing… bastard…
Australia... wow
I suspected we might check out the CFL, but Australia? Talk about going to the ends of the earth to find a punter….. I hope he works out…. it will give me an excuse to buy Foster’s.
Not as easy as you think!
Having played QB & punting for over ten years… I’m here to tell you that it isn’t as easy as you might think! Punting is all about technique! To put it in a way people might easily understand… It’s like a golf swing! You have to be perfect every time! You have to be loose and focussed and ready at a moments notice! I did not have the most talent! I did have excellent technique though! It’s hard to explain to someone how difficult it is to be consistently perfect when you have to be! I watched the video of the Aussie kid… He’s not very consistent! There is definitely room for improvement! He really needs to work on his Follow through and extension! His mechanics are not polished, which you’d expect from a kid who didn’t grow up kicking an American Football! Time will tell and I wish him well!
Go Pack!!
punctuation!!!!!
here’s a tip! use exclamation points judiciously! if you don’t! they won’t! have any! meaning!
;-)
Point taken, but still...
9 billion people on the planet. And NFL punters get paid at least a couple hundred G’s to kick a ball.
I don’t imagine that it’s easy to punt at an NFL level, but, I mean, seriously, you’d think we could find 32 individuals who could do it.
Again, the best punters get millions, and there’s ALWAYS a few in the league who suck rocks (see Kapinos, Jeremy) and could be displaced. Furthermore, if you’re even decent nowadays, you can have a 25-year career of getting paid like a doctor or lawyer for kicking a ball a handful of times per game. I realize it’s a hard skill to master and all that, and I realize it’s not the most glamorous position on the team, but still, you’re telling me there’s not 32 guys on the planet who want this gig and are capable of doing it well??
…this is a profound mystery…
by Curly Lambeau on Mar 17, 2010 2:23 PM CDT up reply actions
9 billion people on the planet. And NFL punters get paid at least a couple hundred G’s to kick a ball.
I don’t imagine that it’s easy to punt at an NFL level, but, I mean, seriously, you’d think we could find 32 individuals who could do it.
Haha exactly my feelings on it.
by packallday555 on Mar 17, 2010 3:18 PM CDT up reply actions
good day mates
my name is the “dingo wrangler” and i’m an avid “footy” fan. chris bryan can really kick the ball through the goal posts here down under. he’s a great tackler and is effecient at “speckies” and usually wins those battles.
his idol was darren bennett, who punted for the chargers. i just don’t understand why you americans play the game with pads? are you scared? real men play footy.
@ CRABBIE: LMAO
Priceless! Not that anybody cares, but, I played Rugby Union in England for 6 years. It was the most fun team sport I ever played. Including American Football. The most fun part was anyone on the team could score and be the hero! Unlike American Football, where the Hero is usually a skill player. What’s funny is we had 5 Americans on our starting 15, we tackled like we had pads on! The blokes tackled like girls! lmao! It was sure fun though!
Too True Trevor ~
You should see an American Linebacker hit a British Rugby player like he has a helmet and shoulder pads on. It’s deadly, the blokes just grab ya or close line ya but, when an American who has played American Football his whole life tackles ya you sure know it! We put a hurting on those dudes, : ) They didn’t like tackling us very much either! lol God it sure was fun though, Great TImes!
Go Pack!
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