Tag: johnny townsend

Chiefs bring Tommy Townsend’s brother, Johnny Townsend, in for a visit

Tommy Townsend’s brother, also a punter, has visited the Kansas City Chiefs.

[jwplayer sIGrn7Sv-ThvAeFxT]

Could the Kansas City Chiefs have brothers who play the same position on their team in the near future?

According to the NFL’s official transaction report, the Chiefs brought in NFL veteran punter Johnny Townsend for a visit. If that name sounds familiar it’s because he’s the older brother of current Chiefs punter Tommy Townsend. Johnny was a fifth-round draft pick by the Oakland Raiders in 2018, but he was waived ahead of the 2019 season and has bounced around ever since.

Both Johnny and Tommy played collegiately for the Florida Gators. Johnny set the all-time punting record for Florida and holds numerous SEC records. In fact, he set the stage for Tommy to come in and take over for someone as esteemed as Dustin Colquitt in Kansas City. Tommy felt prepared to do that because of following in his brother’s footsteps with the Gators.

So why would the Chiefs bring in Johnny for a visit? Well, they’re certainly not disappointed in Tommy. He’s been very impressive as a rookie, he was even recently named to the second-team of PFF’s Midseason All-Pro team. My educated guess is that the Chiefs are merely doing their homework for their call list. With all of the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, they need to have a backup punter available that they could sign in the event that Tommy was to come down with the virus.

[listicle id=80081]

Ravens sign WR DeAndrew White, P Johnny Townsend

The Baltimore Ravens continue to bolster their special teams group, adding in punter Johnny Townsend and returner DeAndrew White.

The Baltimore Ravens didn’t sign free-agent wide receiver Dez Bryant, but they did sign someone from that workout. Baltimore announced they’ve signed punter Johnny Townsend and wide receiver DeAndrew White to their roster, bringing it back up to 80 players.

While Bryant was the biggest name from the workouts held last week, Townsend was the only one signed. He apparently impressed enough to earn a deal with the Ravens, who have had a knack for finding and developing top special teams talent.

Last year, Baltimore was able to trade kicker/punter Kaare Vedvik to the Minnesota Vikings for a fifth-round pick. While Vedvik has bounced around the league since that time, the league is full of former Ravens kickers and punters. Townsend is likely just a camp leg with Baltimore still having Sam Koch on the roster, but it’s a great opportunity for him to parlay his time with the Ravens into something more.

White is a journeyman wide receiver, having come into the NFL in 2015 as an undrafted free agents. White has spent time with the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, and Carolina Panthers since that time. While White has a handful of receptions over his five years in the league, he’s likely being looked at more for his ability on special teams.

White was active for 10 games with the Panthers last season, returning 10 kicks for 226 yards. He also caught four passes for 51 yards and had four tackles. He’ll be competing with the likes of Chris Moore and Kenjon Barner for one of the final roster spots on the team.

[vertical-gallery id=50970]