Tag Archives: Punter of the Week

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TSR’s Punter of the Week:
Spencer Lanning – Cleveland Browns

Who is he?
As is the case with many professional punters, Lanning’s path to a full-time job in the NFL has been long and winding. The 25-year-old South Carolina native overcame four rejections by four NFL clubs over two full seasons before making the Browns in camp just prior to the 2013 season. Undrafted in 2011 after a solid college career with Steve Spurrier at South Carolina, Lanning first latched on with the Bears. Subsequent stints with the Jags, Jets and Browns didn’t work out but Lanning went so far as to toil for a stretch in the now-defunct United Football League. Lanning battled journeyman TJ Conley in camp last summer for the starting Browns job and then staved off another challenge from undrafted rook Colton Schmidt. Lanning was an excellent youth soccer player but was forced to quit the game as a junior in high school after a serious knee injury. With help and encouragement from his Dad, Lanning then devoted himself fully to kicking a football. He can kick short field goals in a pinch and is a big fan of Clemson in addition to his alma mater. Lanning’s self-made creations on the mobile app Vine are funny and creative. His longtime girlfriend is Brittany Jasenski, the 2011 winner of the Miss New York City pageant.

The Lanning stat line vs. Chicago 12-15-13:
5 punts. 211 yards total. 42.2 yards per. 38.0 net.

The punts in detail:
1. With stray snowflakes swirling above the playing field and temps in the mid-20’s, Lanning stepped onto Cleveland’s well-kept natural grass field for his first punt early in the second quarter of a 3-3 ballgame. Scores of empty seats in the upper level could be seen when the Fox broadcast included occasional long shots of the venue. Some sections weren’t even cleared of snow that had fallen the night before. Lanning wore a white long sleeve shirt underneath his football jersey and had a fanny pack strapped to his waist. The fanny pack looks ridiculous on any human but especially on a man playing football. Perhaps Lanning (#5) was using the fanny pack to warm his hands – or perhaps to store written instructions on how best to avoid allowing Bears returner Devin Hester to get the ball with even a small patch of open field ahead of him. Standing at his own 15-yard-line, Lanning blew on his hands and rubbed them together before catching the ball from long snapper Christian Yount at chin level. The boot was a good one. It landed on the hard turf at Chicago’s 27 and bounced forward another eight yards before Browns cover man Johnson Bademosi downed it. It was a 50-yard punt with no return. Hester appeared distracted by the prospect of teammate Zack Bowman unknowingly making contact with the ball and barked warnings as the pigskin fell to the ground. Any time you can keep Hester from returning it, one should be happy – and this Lanning effort had the additional benefit of backing the Bears up pretty good. On the subsequent Bears offensive series, Jay Cutler threw a pick six and you can make the case that Lanning’s punt played a small role in that eventual score.

2. The rock was cold and Lanning caught it less than flush on his second punt just before halftime. The half-thud was audible as he struck it. Hester could only watch as ball squirted around on the ground well ahead of where he expected it. It was a 36-yard punt with no return. Lanning looked miffed but when you’re punting against Hester, I think you take the shank over the long return. Cutler came on with 90 seconds to go in half and immediately took the Bears to paydirt for a big score. I don’t know what the Bears do at season’s end with Cutler. It’s such a tough call given his maddening inconsistency but I guarantee somebody scoops him fast if the Bears let him walk. That team very well could be the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets and wouldn’t that be fun if he has any kind of pass-catchers and a head coach other than Rex Ryan. But I digress.

3. On for a pooch early in the fourth quarter, Lanning had his hands in his fanny pack which I think confirms the idea those silly things contain some kind of warming action. The punt landed at the Bears 8-yard-line and would have rolled nicely all the way to just before the goal line if it weren’t for an overanxious Julian Posey touching it prematurely at the 5 before backing off. It was a 32-yard punt and again – no return.

4. Now in crunch time, Lanning came on in a 24-24 game and was asked to come up in a serious, pressure spot. If he launched one all out from his own end zone, Hester was ready to return it. That’s how it ended up going down. Lanning crushed the ball from the goal line. Hester backed up to receive it at his own 45 and got a wall of protection to his right. He curled around the clearly well-rehearsed Bears return set-up and found a seam down the right side. Lanning had moved swiftly into that alley and pushed Hester out of bounds at about the Cleveland 35. What was interesting about the television coverage of the play was a trippy visual image created by a Fox on-field camera operator. With the lens situated on the ground perhaps 10 yards behind Lanning, the wide-angle shot included a large wind turbine spinning behind the opposite end zone. The totality of the picture as Lanning unleashed the punt was as pretty as a professional water-color painting hanging in a Manhattan art gallery. The punt was 47 yards and the return was 21. Lanning saved a longer return but probably should have continued the game-long pattern of not allowing Hester to touch and scamper with it.

5. Punting a football in freezing cold conditions isn’t easy. Even if you nicely execute all of the key steps prior to launch, the ball still won’t travel like it would if the air was moderately warm. I believe the football becomes less buoyant in extreme cold. Maybe buoyant isn’t the right word. Something about the energy one gets when a foot hits a football gets lost when it’s 20 degrees. Or does it? Denver kicker Matt Prater kicked a 64-yard field goal in 14-degree weather the Sunday before last. Perhaps the thin air at Mile High mitigates the effects of a cold football but I think most punters will tell you it’s hard to get distance in frigid climes. Lanning’s final punt should be viewed in this context. He appeared to hit it as hard as a punter could and it was recorded as a 46 yarder with no return.

The Sound of a Punt:
Jim Donovan has been the radio voice of the Brownies since ’99 and is joined in the booth by Doug Dieken. Donovan has battled chronic lymphocytic leukemia for more than a decade but you wouldn’t know it listening to his broadcast. His energy level is high and his voice sounds younger than his years. The clip below is the description of Lanning’s big fourth quarter punt that ended with the punter getting credit for a tackle. Browns games can be heard in Cleveland on WKNR-AM (ESPN 850).

 

The Punt-osis:
Lanning had a nightmarish game four weeks back when the Bengals blocked one of his punts and returned it for a TD. Cinci partially blocked another punt in that game, too. A few days later the Browns brought in three unemployed punters for tryouts (Zoltan Mesko included) but ended sticking with Lanning. That’s probably the right move given the fact most blocked punts are the fault of one’s protection up front. No matter what happens going forward, Lanning will have quite a scrapbook entry from his week three outing in Minnesota. Against the Vikes, Lanning executed a fake field goal as holder and threw a TD pass to the tight end. He had a great game punting and also kicked an extra point and launched a kickoff when regular kicker Billy Cundiff got hurt. According to an AP story on that game, it was the first time since 1968 that a player punted, threw a TD pass and kicked a PAT in a single game. Lanning’s 2013 in sum should be enough to maintain incumbency in Cleveland next summer but punters can’t be choosers. The revolving door spins fast – and sometimes unfairly – for NFL punters. It takes a special type to punt on the shore of Lake Erie and Lanning seems to have the skill set to leg up, down, short and long. I hope he sticks.

-On a vote of four-nil, the New York City Council Committee on Technology approved a non-binding resolution Wednesday that urges the operator of the area’s three major airports to end a long practice of charging passengers for wireless internet. As it is now, people waiting for flights at LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark pay through the nose in order to gain wi-fi access. The Port Authority’s deal with Boingo to profit from Wi-Fi is expiring and the City Council resolution is aimed at pressuring the Port to go the way of most American airports which make internet access available for nothing.

-United Airlines will pay almost triple what it’s costing now to keep its name on the Chicago arena that’s home to both the Bulls and Blackhawks. United’s 20-year extension to retain naming rights on the madhouse on Madison will cost the air carrier $100 million according to Chicago Business Journal reporter Lewis Lazare. The original 20-year deal reportedly cost United $36 mil. Considering a 30-second Super Bowl television commercial now costs upwards of $4 mil, I’d say United is getting decent value on its forthcoming $5 mil annual expenditure when you add up the exposure.

 

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TSR’s Punter of the Week:
Will Monday – Duke University

Who is he?
21-year old Will Monday is considered one of the top college punters in the nation after gaining attention for punt distance on his high school football team in Flowery Branch, Georgia. A redshirt sophomore at Duke, Monday is a big guy. He’s listed at 6-4, 210 and appears to be every bit of that. He wears uniform #41 and was on the Ray Guy award watch list and All-ACC team before the season started. Monday likes to play golf and often uses the phrase “I’m blessed.” He’s active on Twitter. Monday loves the Zaxby’s restaurant chain, often cites country music lyrics as inspiration and expresses strong faith in God. Punt aficionados best know Monday for his amazing 79-yard punt in last year’s Belk Bowl.

The Monday stat line vs. NC State 11-9-13:
8 punts. 369 yards total. 46.1 yards per. 34.5 net.

The punts in detail:
1. Monday’s first punt was a beauty. Fans at Wallace Wade Stadium on the Duke campus were bundled up but it was actually a great late afternoon for football in Durham. 57 degrees at kickoff with a light wind out of the SSW. Monday’s forearms were fully exposed and his football socks were pulled up high to his knees. The ball was snapped from Duke’s 28. Monday stood 12 yards behind the spot and watched as a blocking tailback shifted from right to left to balance out an overload look by State on the other side of the ball. After a clean snap, Monday took a long step into the ball with his head down and killed it. The crowd ooohed as the ball sailed. Return man Rashard Smith backed up to field the ball at his own 14 and scampered up the middle for a 14-yard return. It was a 58-yard punt. 44 on the net.

2. After a three and out Duke possession that included two dropped passes, Monday came on for his second punt with just under 12 minutes to go in the first half and his team up seven. Wearing thick black strips of sun deflector under each eye, Monday blew on his right hand just before receiving the snap. His approach to the ball after catching it appears a bit more compact than average but he’s such a big guy, I guess he doesn’t need the extra step to gain the momentum or rhythm necessary to kick it far. This one had greater hang time than Monday’s first punt and left Smith with little time to maneuver. It was a 45-yard punt and Smith was hauled down for no gain. A block in the back by State on the return took the ball back another ten on top of that. Shockingly, State went for it on 4th on 1 at their own 26 on their ensuing possession and failed which led to a Duke field goal.

3. Now dark in Durham with the odd 4 PM kickoff and clocks turned back an hour the week before, Monday had his best punt of the day after Duke’s offense stalled on its first offensive set of plays in the second half. He launched it from his own 35 and put it high into the night sky. Return man Smith decided quickly to back away and gamble that the ball would bounce into the end zone. It didn’t. It landed at the 5 and almost immediately laid down like a dead duck. It’s as if the ball was deflated just before it hit the ground. I’m not sure if Monday has the ability to do this intentionally but to lay a ball with almost no bounce like that inside the ten is remarkable. It was a 50-yard punt with no return. Perhaps the fresh sod made a difference. Had it been Field Turf or some other synthetic surface, maybe the ball jumps.

4. It was Monday bloody Monday on this low-trajectory punt as State return man Smith had time to turn on his jets because of the lousy hang time. The line driver from Monday had good distance but horrible hang which left the cover team unprepared for the freight train barreling down the inbound tracks. Smith got it at his 27 and ran it straight up the left side of the field. Monday was the only Dookie to get a hand on him but it was a feeble grab to jar the ball loose and it didn’t affect Smith’s momentum. Smith got a couple key blocks along the way and ran it 73 yards for the TD to help tie the game at 10. Officially, it was a 48-yard punt and a 73-yard return with significant blame attached to the low altitude punt.

5. Fourth quarter in a tight game and Monday had a chance to air one out as he launched from inside his own 5. Unfortunately for Duke it was another flat ride. A dud of a punt at a crucial time. Smith caught it at his 46 and returned it six yards. A block in the back by State took it back ten yards from where Smith was tackled which softened the consequences of the bad 39-yard punt. On the ensuing set of downs, State followed with an even worse punt by its punter Will Baumann. A Baumann shankopotumus flew just 20 yards. Yow.

6. Perhaps cognizant of his previous short punt and the shank that followed by his rival, Monday sought to lengthen extension as he struck the ball at his 35 yard line with 11 minutes and change in the game. The tip of his right foot reached a towering apex – above his lowered head! The ball again failed to gain optimum altitude. It bounced inside the five and darted into the end zone for a touchback. 56-yard punt and 36 on the net. Not great but Monday might have wanted to exorcise jitters with the all-out extension.

7. Technique again changed a bit as Monday tried to put one inside the 20 with seven minutes to go and Duke up 4. From midfield, Monday let the nose of the ball droop straight down on the approach. He apparently sought to get backspin by striking the bottom portion of the pigskin. The ball sailed way too far for another touchback. On TV, ESPNU’s analyst Kelly Stouffer used a golf club analogy to chastise Monday for a wasted opportunity. “He got the wrong stick out of the bag. That’s 20 lost yards that Duke let get away right there,” said Stouffer. Officially, it was a 38-yard punt, 18 on the net.

8. Monday’s final punt of the game came in garbage time. Duke had scored three touchdowns in 26 seconds to seal a 38-20 win. Two of the TD’s came off interception returns. So with 55 seconds to go, Monday punted with no pressure from midfield and executed his first coffin corner kick of the day. It was on the money. It bounced out of bounds at State’s 10. 35-yard punt. Same on the net.

The Sound of a Punt:
Duke’s radio booth tandem has been together for more than 30 years and the chemistry that comes out of the pairing makes for a fun listen. Bob Harris is the play-by-play guy. He’s done both basketball and football games at Duke since 1976. Former Duke wideout Wes Chesson is the analyst. He joined Harris in the football booth in 1982. Heard on WDNC-AM 620 AM “The Buzz” in Durham, this is the Smith/Chesson call of Monday’s punt to open the second half last Saturday night.

 

The Punt-osis:
With the ugly win over NC State, Duke is guaranteed to finish with a winning record for the first time since 1994. There was some really bad quarterback play in this game but Duke’s redshirt freshman safety DeVon Edwards had an eye-popping performance. He returned a kickoff 100 yards for a TD and had two pick-sixes on top of that. Monday punted eight times and showed flashes of greatness but he needs greater consistency in the hang time department. Just a soph, Monday will have plenty of time to work on elevating his kicks. He already is on the radar of pro scouts which is a big jump on a lot of young punters at the college level. No matter what happens, he’ll hopefully walk out of Duke with a degree. For now, we’ll keep watching Monday punt whenever we can and hope he and the often overlooked Duke football program continue to have success.

-I listened to Wednesday night’s Cate Le Bon spot on Marc Riley’s radio show on BBC Radio 6 Music. Le Bon and three bandmates played three songs from her fantastic new record Mug Museum. In order, they were: I Can’t Help You, No God and Are You With Me Now. Le Bon and her touring band were set up in a studio in London while Riley asked questions from his home base in Manchester. Much of the interview was horsing around by Riley but he did ask Le Bon how she came up with the new album’s title. Le Bon said a friend named Tom noted that her bedroom looked like a “mug museum” because her collection of homemade pottery pieces cluttered the space. “I like the way (Mug Museum) sounded so I stole it. It’s become an imaginary place where the album takes place. Does that make any sense?” Le Bon has settled in Los Angeles from her native Wales and disagreed with Riley’s premise that LA is viewed as a “soul-less” place. Le Bon says she was drawn to LA by a special, tight-knit community of musicians. “I was lucky to be taken under some good people’s wings. There are lots of wonderfully talented and kind musicians,” said Le Bon. When Riley asked Le Bon to name names, she included White Fence drummer Nick Murray who played on the Mug Museum sessions.