First, I know you’ve been very involved in the media business even while you played, and especially now. How did that start for you?
Certainly. I always had a real passion for broadcasting. I got my journalism degree at Georgia which is one of the best schools for that in the country. I wanted to get a degree in broadcast journalism but playing football required a lot of my time and I couldn’t get the broadcasting credit hours I’d need to do that while I played, so I became a telecommunications major – focusing on the business side of the media business.
As a player I always had a lot of respect for media guys, but I knew as a punter I had to deal with the stigma of having to prove my worth, and that held true. I met with my agent while I was in Pittsburgh and he told me I should get involved and do radio before I retired – so I did that, writing – all to help give me the chances I have now.
So what are you doing now as a media professional?
Once I retired in 2017 I proposed an idea to Aaron Murray to do a podcast – I knew Aaron from the XFL and Georgia days. I love Georgia football and thought there was a need for a podcast on college football done by two guys who were recent players – guys who knew the coaches and teams we were talking about.
I also worked with a Georgia website on Rivals.com and did some pre and post game work for them and do a radio show called DogDash for Georgia too. These are some of the biggest college football platforms – that gave me a lot of reps and I had a lot of fun doing it.
Our PuntandPass podcast recently surpassed one-million downloads so it’s been very successful. I also do some live TV and radio still as well.
And I also work in private equity as this all takes off – in a multi-family office working as their business development manager.
Stepping back, you signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent coming out of college. Why Pittsburgh?
It’s crazy – I thought I’d get drafted by Carolina. But they took a punter in the third round. I thought after that maybe the Rams or Vikings – I heard from them near the end of the draft – but at the end I went undrafted.
I never heard from the Steelers prior to the draft – I never spoke with them at the combine or pro day. I had the expectation of being drafted, but after that I got the call from Al Everest who told me it would be an open competition in Pittsburgh for the punting job. They told me they had kept tabs on me and wanted to being me in.
Anyone take you under their wing as a rookie and show you the ropes – and the city?
It was a great rookie class – and Cameron Heyward was my high school teammate – we won a state championship together. So he was a big help – on everything from where to eat to where to stay – where to get an apartment.
Greg Warren and Shaun Suisham helped me tremendously on the day-to-day process of being a pro. How to create value for myself and be my best on Sundays. Everyone handled themselves so professionally – there’s a reason why the Steelers are perennially better than most teams!
Specifically, it’s such a big change from college to the pros. In college everything is mapped out for you from when to eat and practice to classes. In the NFL you you have practice and meetings but then your day ends at 2:00. You have to figure out your time from there – how much to kick, work on techniques, tinker with mechanics, how much film to watch – all so you can be perfect on Sundays.
Amos Jones helped out a lot as well – especially after Everest left in preseason. He was a huge help to me as a rookie – and he brought me to Arizona later where I finished my career.
Why do you think you won that competition as a rookie?
It was a unique situation. Kapinos hurt his back on the first day of camp. We started our battle in OTAs – and I say battle lightly because there’s not much special teams work then. But he hurt his back on the first day of camp and I was shocked. I know he wanted the job as badly as I did.
They didn’t know how bad he hurt his back at first. I figured they’d bring in another punter once they figured that out, but Amos pulled me aside and told me they weren’t going to bring in another punter That they had trust in me and wanted to use this as an opportunity to bring in a guy at another position because they believed in me.
I learned right then that they had trust in me -and how quickly things can happen. I had a good preseason after that. I think I had 40 punts that preseason and learned so much. I remember having s good game that fourth preseason game versus Carolina.
What makes a good punter or kicker, do you think?
I don’t think the regular Sunday football fan appreciates how difficult kicking and punting can be. Punters today are so versatile – the way they can cross fields up, the way they can punt away from the return man and still get good yardage – it’s changed a lot even since I played.
Kickers – is there any other profession where an 80% success rate could get you fired? You have to be at least at 90% as a kicker to keep your job.
For me – I think it comes down to what Mike Tomlin told me. You have to be consistent. No doubt about it. As he said, you can’t have JV days. You have to be varsity all the time. You can have one bad punt every once in a while – but it can’t be one a game. You have to be dependable. Your gunners need to know that if you tell them you’re kicking in a certain direction that that’s where the ball is going. And the coaches have to be able to trust you and scheme for that.
I think I was great at pinning teams inside the 20. Especially in Arizona but even in Pittsburgh. I think I had a high success rate there, and the analytics show that when teams are pinned inside their own 20 – even if just on the 19, their percentage of scoring goes down dramatically.
There are probably five guys that are the top of the game now as punters – who do it all consistently.
Any memories stand out to you most from that season?
That season we were riddled with injuries. Ben got hurt, then Leftwich got hurt too. We had an ugly game versus Cleveland – I think we had eight turnovers. The next week Charlie Batch was starting versus Baltimore, and we won that game with a walk-off field goal by Suisham. Everyone chipped in – the offense, defense, special teams. I just remember that locker room – we were like a college team – we were so happy and fired up – especially for Charlie. It was a special moment I’ll never forget.
I still follow the Steelers and really appreciate the quality of the organization. I had a really good time there.
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