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Todd Sauerbrun

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Todd Sauerbrun
No. 16, 5, 10, 18
Position:Punter
Personal information
Born: (1973-01-04) January 4, 1973 (age 51)
Setauket, New York, U.S.
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school:Ward Melville (East Setauket, New York)
College:West Virginia
NFL draft:1995 / round: 2 / pick: 56
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Punts:889
Punting yards:39,208
Average punt:44.1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Todd Scott Sauerbrun (/ˈsaʊ.ərbrən/; born January 4, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers, and was recognized as a unanimous All-American in 1994. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 1995 NFL draft, and also played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos and New England Patriots of the NFL, and the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League (UFL).

Early life

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Sauerbrun was born and raised on Long Island, in Setauket, New York. He attended Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, and was a letterman in football and lacrosse.[1] In football, as a senior, he averaged 45.1 yards per punt and kicked a field goal of 62 yards on October 27, 1990 (still the New York State high school record). In lacrosse, he was a high school U.S. Lacrosse All-America selection. He still holds the Ward Melville record for leading midfield scorer with 109 goals and 24 assists for 133 points.

College career

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Sauerbrun attended West Virginia University, where he was a punter for the West Virginia Mountaineers football team from 1991 to 1994. He was a first-team All-Big East Conference selection in 1992, 1993, and 1994, and an honorable mention All-American in 1992 and 1993. As a senior in 1994, he set an NCAA record with a 48.4-yard punting average, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American.

Professional career

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He was drafted by the Chicago Bears 56th overall in the 1995 NFL draft.[2] He spent five seasons with the Bears, and is ranked second on the team in all-time punting average. Sauerbraun tore his ACL in the third game of the 1998 season and missed the rest of the year. He was injured after a Tampa Bay Buccaneers player landed on his leg after a punt that drew a roughing the punter penalty.[3] He spent the 2000 season with the Kansas City Chiefs, and was signed by the Carolina Panthers before the 2001 season.

Sauerbrun achieved both his greatest success and biggest problems while with Carolina. He was picked for the Pro Bowl to represent the NFC in the 2002, 2003, and 2004 seasons. Sauerbrun also became the first player from either conference since the AFL-NFL Merger in 1970 to lead his conference in gross punting average for three consecutive seasons (2001–2003). However, during the 2004 season, the Panthers were riddled with injuries, and at one point, starting placekicker John Kasay suffered a leg injury, and the Panthers were forced to use Sauerbrun to replace Kasay. Sauerbrun refused to kick unless he was reimbursed for fines he incurred when he was overweight.[4]

In December 2004, he was charged with driving under the influence, and he was named in an investigation of steroids use in the NFL linked to a South Carolina doctor during the 2004 season.[5]

As of 2017's NFL off-season, Todd Sauerbrun held at least 10 Panthers franchise records, including:

  • Punts: season (104 in 2002), game (11 on 2002-12-22 CHI), playoff season (21 in 2003), playoff game (7 on 2004-02-01; with 2 others)
  • Punt Yards: season (4,735 in 2002), playoff season (910 in 2003)
  • Yards / Punt: career (45.54), playoffs (43.33), playoff season (43.33 in 2003), playoff game (48.4 on 2004-01-03 DAL)

On May 19, 2005, Sauerbrun was traded to the Denver Broncos for punter Jason Baker and a 7th round draft pick in the 2006 draft. On July 7, 2006, Sauerbrun was suspended for the first four games of the NFL season after testing positive for the banned dietary supplement ephedra. On October 17, 2006, the day he was supposed to come back from his suspension, Denver cut him in favor of punter Paul Ernster.

One of Sauerbrun's most notable NFL career moments occurred during the AFC Divisional Playoffs on January 14, 2006, when, in a rare move for a team punter, he managed to tackle New England Patriots returner Ellis Hobbs after his own kickoff and forced a fumble, which was recovered by teammate Cecil Sapp. This eventually led to a Broncos field goal, which helped Denver defeat the Patriots 27–13, ending New England's bid for three consecutive Super Bowl victories.

Sauerbrun was signed by the Patriots on December 22, 2006, to a one-year contract that gave them the right to match any contract he signed the next offseason.

On April 3, 2007, the Denver Broncos signed Sauerbrun to a one-year contract. However, a week later, the Patriots announced their decision to match Denver's offer to Sauerbrun.[6] Shortly thereafter, the NFL Players Association filed a grievance on behalf of Sauerbrun regarding the details of the contract he signed with New England in 2006. On April 18, 2007, it was announced that Sauerbrun would once again be a free agent. Sauerbrun re-signed with the Denver Broncos on April 19, 2007.[7]

Prior to facing the Chicago Bears, Sauerbrun stated that he would kick to Devin Hester, who was well known for his success as a kick and punt returner. Sauerbrun stated, "We're going after it. We're not going to kick away from him. Hey, we respect him and he's the best, but we have guys on our coverage teams that are paid to make big tackles."[8] Hester responded by returning both a punt and kick-off for touchdowns.[9] Sauerbrun attempted to tackle Hester on both returns, but failed.[9] Later in the game, Sauerbrun had a punt blocked by Charles Tillman while attempting to kick away from Hester.[9] Keith Olbermann, a commentator and anchor for NBC, awarded Sauerbrun with his dubious "Worst Person in the NFL Award", for challenging Hester and failing to stop him.[10]

On December 18, 2007, the Denver Broncos released Sauerbrun for a second time after he was arrested by Denver police during an altercation with a taxi driver.[11]

Sauerbrun was signed by the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League on September 9, 2009.[12]

NFL career statistics

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Legend
Led the league
Bold Career high

Regular season

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Year Team Punting
GP Punts Yds Net Yds Lng Avg Net Avg Blk Ins20 TB
1995 CHI 15 55 2,080 1,712 61 37.8 31.1 0 16 6
1996 CHI 16 78 3,491 2,724 72 44.8 34.9 0 15 12
1997 CHI 16 95 4,059 3,112 67 42.7 32.8 0 26 11
1998 CHI 3 15 741 631 71 49.4 42.1 0 6 3
1999 CHI 16 85 3,478 3,012 65 40.9 35.4 0 20 10
2000 KAN 16 82 3,656 2,937 68 44.6 35.8 0 28 8
2001 CAR 16 93 4,419 3,654 73 47.5 38.9 1 35 17
2002 CAR 16 104 4,735 3,941 67 45.5 37.5 1 31 12
2003 CAR 16 77 3,433 2,851 64 44.6 35.6 3 22 9
2004 CAR 16 76 3,351 2,888 65 44.1 37.5 1 25 8
2005 DEN 16 72 3,157 2,771 66 43.8 38.0 1 24 6
2006 NWE 2 10 408 307 58 40.8 30.7 0 2 0
2007 DEN 14 47 2,200 1,767 65 46.8 36.1 2 14 6
Career 178 889 39,208 32,307 73 44.1 36.0 9 264 108

Playoffs

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Year Team Punting
GP Punts Yds Net Yds Lng Avg Net Avg Blk Ins20 TB
2003 CAR 4 21 910 772 59 43.3 36.8 0 6 2
2005 DEN 2 8 361 311 58 45.1 38.9 0 4 0
2006 NWE 3 14 640 539 59 45.7 38.5 0 2 1
Career 43 43 1,911 1,622 59 44.4 37.7 0 12 3

References

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  1. ^ "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Booming Success For Losers", The New York Times, August 29, 1994. Accessed October 24, 2007. "It was a great day for the 6-foot, 200-pound kicker from Setauket, L.I., who averaged 60.1 yards in his nine attempts.... Sauerbrun, a senior, was a soccer player until the ninth grade, when he tried kicking at Ward Melville High School."
  2. ^ "1995 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  3. ^ Mullin, John (September 22, 1998). "Torn Acl May End Sauerbrun's Season". Chicago Tribune.
  4. ^ "Panthers nix Sauerbrun field goals-for-fines offer". cbssports.com. November 17, 2004. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  5. ^ "Report: Sauerbrun among Panthers prescribed steroids". cbssports.com. March 29, 2005. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  6. ^ Article not found | February 5, 2008 | AHN Archived May 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Williamson, Bill (April 19, 2007). "Sauerbrun returns to Broncos". Denver Post.
  8. ^ Mayer, Larry. Sauerbrun says Broncos won't kick away from Hester Archived December 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (November 23, 2007), chicagobears.com, Retrieved on December 24, 2007.
  9. ^ a b c Seligman, Andrew. Chicago 37, Denver 34, OT Archived December 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (November 25, 2007), Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved on December 24, 2007.
  10. ^ Saunders, Dusty. Collinsworth still one of the best (December 3, 2007), Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved on December 24, 2007.
  11. ^ 9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | Broncos release punter Todd Sauerbrun
  12. ^ "UFL's Florida Tuskers Announce Signing of Eight Additional Players". OurSports Central. September 9, 2009. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
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