Punter (football position)

A punter in American or Canadian football is a special teams player who receives the snapped ball directly from the line of scrimmage and then punts (kicks) the football to the opposing team so as to limit any field position advantage. The opposing team may receive the ball by stopping the offense on a fourth (or third in Canadian football) down. Punters must be skilled in angling the football and/or kicking it as high as possible (called ‘hangtime’) to maximize his teammates’ ability to eliminate a punt returner's forward progress. Punters are rarely well known, or recognized by fans, but play a major role in winning the field position battle.

Although most punters have relatively short playing careers some can have exceptionally long careers, compared to other NFL position players. One reason for this is their limited time on the field and heavy protection by penalties against defensive players for late hits makes them far less likely to be injured then other positions. Sean Landeta, for instance, played 19 NFL seasons and 3 USFL seasons for 8 different teams. Ray Guy (Oakland Raiders) is the first and only punter to be picked in the first round of the NFL Draft. He is credited with raising the status of punters in the NFL because he proved to be a major ingredient in the Raiders success during the 1970s by preventing opponents from gaining field position advantage. Currently, Brad Maynard, Shane Lechler, Tom Tupa and Todd Sauerbrun are prominent NFL punters. Statistically, the greatest punter in the history of professional football is Bob Cameron of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL) who, in a 23 year career, punted for 134,301 yards.

Current National Football League punters

American football positions | American football punters

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Current National Football League punters