Tag: punter

Broncos punter Sam Martin used to work for Pizza Hut

Broncos punter Sam Martin had several jobs — including making pizzas — while in college.

Before he became a professional football player, Broncos punter Sam Martin made pizzas while attending Appalachian State.

“I worked at Pizza Hut, I worked at — I wore many hats while I was in college, just kind of trying to make ends meet,” Martin said on The Michael Rothstein Show last year. “[Division 1] AA at the time, scholarship money wasn’t huge and I was only on a half-scholarship for the first three semesters so I had to get jobs, you know, for when we weren’t playing in season.”

Martin didn’t really think about the possibility of becoming a professional punter until others told him he had the talent for it.

“I kind of only knew what I had heard — that I had a strong leg and, you know, the type of leg that could make it to the NFL — it was just a matter of figuring it out, figuring out how to do it, finding consistency.”

Martin found consistency and was selected by the Lions in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL draft. He spent seven years in Detroit before signing a three-year deal with Denver this offseason. Martin is expected to replace Colby Wadman who, ironically, used to be a pizza delivery driver before joining the Broncos.

Martin shouldn’t have any trouble making ends meet these days. He earned nearly $12 million with the Lions, according to Spotrac.com.

Martin will earn an average of $2.35 million per year in Denver.

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Sam Martin excited to punt at high elevation with Broncos

Sam Martin will get to punt a mile above sea level at the Broncos’ stadium.

While with the Lions, Sam Martin punted indoors at 0.124 miles above sea level. With the Broncos, Martin will punt outdoors at one mile above sea level.

“Obviously, the thin air is going to rotate [the ball] easier,” Martin said during a conference call with reporters on March 31. “I’m pretty excited about that. It allows me to probably hit that Aussie style punt a little deeper back in the field. Then as far as kickoffs go as well, if that’s something that I’m asked to do, you get some more yards there.”

The higher elevation should help Martin’s punts but he probably won’t have to worry about kickoff duties. Martin handled kickoffs in Detroit but Denver kicker Brandon McManus has made it clear he will continue handling kickoffs for the Broncos.

Martin had an average of 45.3 yards per punt and a long of 62 yards with the Lions last season. With a career average of 46 yards per punt and a career long of 72 yards, Martin should have no problem booting punts in Denver.

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3 things to know about new Chiefs punter Tyler Newsome

Get to know the newest specialist for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Kansas City Chiefs recently agreed to terms with punter Tyler Newsome on a one-year deal. Newsome might be considered a longshot to make the team because of Dustin Colquitt, the longest-tenured player on the Chiefs’ roster. Still, Newsome is an interesting player and worthy of getting to know. Here are three things the Chiefs Kingdom should know about their newest player:

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

A car accident in 2012 left Newsome severely injured

Newsome is not only lucky to be a professional athlete, but he’s lucky to be alive after a brutal car accident in 2012. Here is the description from his 2019 NFL Draft player biography:

“Roger Tyler Newsome is lucky to be alive. He spent 17 days in the hospital after a car accident in May 2012, where he suffered several injuries including a fractured tailbone and ruptured spleen. He spent many months rehabbing those injuries, however, and eventually became an all-state kicker in Georgia. Notre Dame offered him a punting scholarship before he took over that position as a senior”

Apparently, Newsome also suffered a broken pelvis, fractures to multiple ribs and a concussion during the accident. The outlook was grim, but Newsome worked his way back. Sure enough, he’d find an opportunity with the Fighting Irish and become one of the top punters in the illustrious history of the school.

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Report: Chiefs to sign free agent punter Tyler Newsome

There is a new leg in the Kansas City Chiefs’ special teams room.

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to add depth to their roster, and this time they’ve added some competition among the specialists.

The Chiefs have agreed to terms with former Notre Dame punter Tyler Newsome on a one-year deal, as first reported by Desmond Talbot of NFL Draft Diamonds and confirmed by Kansas City Star beat reporter Herbie Teope.

It’s no secret that Dustin Colquitt is approaching the end of his career. He’s the longest-tenured player on the Chiefs’ roster and turns 38 years old in May. There’s no indication that he’s set to retire, but the Chiefs need to continue to prepare for his eventual departure. Last season, they brought in undrafted free agent punter Jack Fox to compete with Colquitt. Ultimately, Colquitt beat Fox out and retained his job for the Chiefs’ championship season.

Newsome is known best for his impressive show of strength at his pro day, posting 30 bench press repetitions of 225. To put things into perspective, that’s more repetitions than Chris Jones, Frank Clark, Mike Pennel, Derrick Nnadi, Alex Okafor, Khalen Saunders, and Tanoh Kpassagnon posted at their respective combine or pro days. Only practice squad defensive lineman, Devaroe Lawrence had more bench press repetitions than Newsome at 31.

The 6-2 and 210-pound punter has a career average of 44 yards per punt. He accumulated a total of over 9,000 punting yards in his four-year career with Notre Dame. A total of 75 of his 225 career punts with Notre Dame landed within the 20-yard line.

Newsome spent some time in the 2019 offseason with the Los Angeles Chargers but was released during 53-man roster cuts.

Matt Prater got Sam Martin ‘really excited’ about playing for Broncos

Matt Prater gave Sam Martin a positive review of the Broncos.

Before he joined the Lions in 2014, Matt Prater served as the Broncos’ kicker from 2007-2013. In Detroit, Prater was teammates with punter Sam Martin from ’14-’19. When Martin became a free agent this offseason, Prater gave him a positive review of Denver.

“Prater has become over these years one of my best friends,” Martin said during a conference call with reporters on March 31. “I was definitely close with him in the locker room. We spent every minute together. He’s been a great friend to me and a great teammate. He had nothing but good things to say about Denver.

“Since the day he walked in until the conversation yesterday, he’s just said it’s a great place to live, great people, great organization. He got me really excited about it. I just know how much he loves Denver. He’s kind of pointing me in the right direction of where to live, places to go, stuff like that. It’s nice to have someone who has spent so much time there helping you out with that.”

Martin averaged 46 yards per punt during his time with the Broncos. He is expected to replace Colby Wadman as Denver’s new punter this year.

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Lions make heavy investment in special teams during free agency

Despite losing, and not replacing, a punter in free agency, the Detroit Lions have made a heavy investment in their special teams coverage and blocking units.

After moving on from 2019 special teams coordinator John Bonamego, the Lions made a strong move towards improving their special teams by hiring up-and-comer Brayden Coombs (formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals) to take over the coordinator position.

Coombs spent the last decade learning under Bengals coordinator Darrin Simmons and was part of Football Outsiders #1 DVOA special teams unit in 2019.

But the addition of Coombs was just the beginning. When the Lions hit the free agency market, they made a heavy investment in their special teams coverage and blocking units.

Snap Counts

In 2019, the Lions had around 470 plays on special teams. That works out to about 5,170 snaps spread out over the roster throughout the year. If we remove extra point and field goal attempts, as well as the offensive/defensive linemen, long snapper and kicker snaps, that leaves roughly 3,221 snaps for coverage and blocking units.

Of those 3,221 snaps, the Lions return 24 players and 2,792 of those snaps. Lost in free agency were just 409 snaps, from Logan Thomas (176), Tavon Wilson (120), J.D. McKissic (79), Paul Perkins (29), and Devon Kennard (14).

While not all of the Lions’ offseason signings (or returning players) will make the 2020 roster, they have invested in nine players who contributed on 953 special teams snaps last season including Jayron Kearse (226), Tony McRae (181), Elijah Lee (198), Geremy Davis (97), Darryl Roberts (85), Jamie Collins (76), Geronimo Allison (45), Reggie Ragland (26), Duron Harmon (19).

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That’s an increase of four players and 524 snaps from 2019 special teams units — and this isn’t factoring in the players who will be added via the Lions draft class.

Last season the Lions got special teams contributions from eight rookies that accounted for 817 special teams coverage/blocking snaps. Those snaps came from C.J Moore (292), Will Harris (178), Ty Johnson (118), Isaac Nauta (82), Amani Oruwariye (69), Jahlani Tavai (41), Travis Fulgham (25), and Anthony Pittman (12).

If the Lions can get a similar level of contributions from this year’s rookie class, as well as the additional 524 from this year’s free agents, the Lions will have over 1300 additional snaps to play with when making decisions on their 53-man roster.

Bottom line

As always, players who can contribute on special teams will round out the 2020 roster, and with roughly 25-percent more snap experience than they will need, the Lions will be able to pick from the best of what will assuredly be a fierce training camp competition.

Think of it as being able to pick the best dozen apples from the orchard rather than buying a three-pound bag from the grocery store and hoping none of them are bruised or rotten.

A lot of the recent signings in free agency haven’t been flashy, but the Lions are setting themselves up to put an improved special teams unit on the field. Considering how often special teams can be an intricate part in determining success during a game, its low key moves like this that can pay dividends in December.

Who will handle kickoffs for the Broncos this season?

Who will kickoff for the Broncos this season?

Earlier this week, the Broncos gave punter Sam Martin a three-year contract with an average salary of $2.35 million. With that kind of salary, Martin is the clear favorite to win the team’s punting job this offseason.

But what about the team’s kickoff duties — could Martin claim that job as well?

While with the Lions, Martin handled 480 kickoffs in seven years. In Denver, Brandon McManus has booted 467 kickoffs in six seasons. Which one of them will kickoff for the Broncos in 2020?

“Expect McManus to continue the task,” KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis tweeted on Wednesday. Klis is probably correct in his prediction.

Although McManus has a slightly shorter career kickoff average than Martin (62.5 yards compared to 63.4 yards), he is better at limiting returns, which is something teams aim for these days.

McManus has forced 312 touchbacks in his career compared to 259 forced by Martin. When returners elect to return a McManus kickoff, they have averaged 22.4 yards per return. Returners have averaged 23.8 yards per return against Martin. Kick coverage plays a role in the return average but so does kick placement, an area where McManus has done well.

It’s probably safe to assume that Martin will handle punts and place-holding in 2020 with McManus handling field goals and kickoffs.

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Broncos agree to 3-year deal with punter Sam Martin

The Broncos are signing punter Sam Martin to a three-year contract.

The Denver Broncos have agreed to a three-year, $7.05 million contract with former Detroit Lions punter Sam Martin, according to a report from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

This is probably bad news for Colby Wadman, who averaged 44.4 yards per punt and 39.4 net yards per punt for Denver last season. Martin averaged 45.3 yards per punt with a net average of 41.8 yards with Detroit in 2019.

Judging solely from their average salaries ($2.35 million for Martin compared to $570,000 for Wadman), it seems safe to assume that Martin will be the heavy favorite to win the team’s punter job this offseason.

Martin (6-1, 205 pounds) was selected by the Lions in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL draft out of Appalachian State. He served as Detroit’s punter for six years, averaging 46 yards per punt with a net average of 41 yards.

Martin can also handle kickoffs. With the Lions, he averaged 63.4 yards per kickoff in his career. Last season, he averaged 62 yards per kickoff and had 17 touchbacks. Broncos kicker Brandon McManus averaged 64.4 yards per kickoff and had 55 touchbacks in 2019.

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Former Seahawks punter Jon Ryan diagnosed with skin cancer

Ryan announced the cancer on a podcast in his hometown of Saskatchewan, where he plays for the Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.

Former Seattle Seahawks punter Jon Ryan, now with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League, has been diagnosed with skin cancer.

Ryan announced the diagnosis on the Growing the Game podcast, saying he had a surgery scheduled but it has been pushed back due to COVID-19.

“I’ve gone once a year to the dermatologist to get a full-body scan to get everything checked, and I have a mark on my neck they’re a little concerned about, last year they froze it off, and it grew back even bigger, so they identified that it was skin cancer,” Ryan said. “Luckily, it’s a pretty slow-moving cancer that the doctor’s very confident that he can wait until this coronavirus has swept through to be able to operate on.”

Ryan, 38, served as Seattle’s punter from 2008-2017, eventually losing his job to rookie Michael Dickson, who went on to make the Pro Bowl. Ryan eventually returned to his hometown of Saskatchewan to punt for the Roughriders, where he appeared in all 18 regular season games last year and averaged 48.8 yards per punt.

We at the Seahawks Wire wish Ryan and his family all the best in his eventual surgery and recovery.

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Cowboys News Links: Cooper talks heat up, Jones’ big messages

Also, Jerry speaks from Indy, Leighton Vander Esch’s injury, David Irving’s possible return, elite pass rushers, and a pumped-up punter.

Questions about if and when the current CBA’s tag structure will change have kickstarted talks between the Cowboys and two of their high-profile free agents. But Jerry Jones still found an hour-plus to spill the tea on a variety of topics- including his recent shower thoughts- to the media assembled in Indianapolis. Mike McCarthy also held court at the combine and provided a sneak peek at what the 2020 Cowboys may look like.

All that plus news on Leighton Vander Esch’s injury recovery, David Irving’s possible reinstatement, and Dak Prescott’s self-appointed advisory committee. There’s also linkage to elite pass rushing options, the Great Dallas Interception Drought, the ratings bonanza that is America’s Team… and a punter showing off his guns. Here’s the News and Notes.

Cowboys ready to intensify Amari Cooper talks amid CBA setback :: Dallas Morning News

Now that the Cowboys know that using a transition tag on Amari Cooper will likely only result in them having to rescind it if a new collective bargaining agreement is approved, contract talks with wideout Amari Cooper’s camp have taken on a new sense of urgency. The two sides met Thursday evening in Indianapolis; a Byron Jones conversation is also on the immediate itinerary.

10 biggest things Jerry Jones said from Indy :: The Mothership

In a wide-ranging 80-minute sit-down aboard the team bus, the big boss dished on Byron Jones’s status, Jason Witten’s future, Robert Quinn’s “real deal”-ness, Dak Prescott’s familial standing with him and Jimmy Johnson in the Ring of Honor.

Mike McCarthy’s 1st big test, can he outrank Jerry Jones :: Cowboys Wire

McCarthy thinks he has more say over the roster than he did in Green Bay. He’s going to have to outweigh the most powerful man in all of sports.

What’s going on with LB Leighton Vander Esch? :: Inside The Star

With neck issues dating back to his college days, will this be a permanent concern going forward?

Cowboys Draft Digest No. 5: Top pass-rushers are safe picks. Can Dallas find one? :: The Athletic

Historically speaking, collegiate pass rushers who earn “elite” status end up being studs on Sundays.

 

Irving reinstatement journey comes with side-eye, but Cowboys watching :: Cowboys Wire

The David Irving saga may have another chapter left to be written after all.

Mailbag: Why the continual lack of INT’s?:: The Mothership

One notable thing the Cowboys defense has lacked is turnovers. It’s a mystery that has seemed to plague this unit for years, and one that needs to change in 2020.

America’s Team: Cowboys still winning in TV ratings :: Front Office Sports

Last season’s 8-8 record notwithstanding, the Cowboys are anything but mediocre in the Nielsen numbers. One industry insider theorizes that a Super Bowl appearance would be an absolute record-breaker.

Punter Michael Turk steals show at combine on bench press :: ESPN

The Arizona State punter, who recently made a list of punters the Cowboys should consider drafting, may have improved his stock Thursday night when he absolutely smoked the 225-pound bench press in Indianapolis. Michael Turk’s 25 reps were better than all 33 wide receivers and all but one tight end who participated.

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