San Francisco’s MVP? So far, it’s punter Lee

By Darrell Laurant  |   Wednesday, October 31, 2007  |  Comments( 6 )

San Francisco 49ers
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At 2-5, the San Francisco 49ers are a major disappointment. They were embarrassed by the New Orleans Saints (also 2-4 going in) at home last Sunday, and they have demonstrated glaring deficiencies on both sides of the ball.

But there is always a silver lining to every cloud, even the dark one currently hovering over Monster Park. Hey, Andy Lee is having a great year.

Of course, Lee is the 49ers' punter, and he's getting lots of practice. Still, it's hard not to be impressed with his 49.9-yard average, 16 kicks inside the 20-yard line, eight inside the 10 and a long boot of 74 yards.

"A reasonable argument can be made that Lee has been the team's MVP," wrote Mark Emmons of the San Jose Mercury-News, "and not just Most Valuable Punter."

"Andy, right now, is in a groove," added head coach Mike Nolan.

The way things are going, those little pre-game blurbs over the national wire services might start saying: "San Francisco, led by punter Andy Lee ..."

Seriously, though, things might be even worse without Lee. A native of Westminster, S.C., he also got big air during his three years at Pitt, being named the Big East Special Teams Player of the Year twice.

And the hometown Steelers didn't forget about him, signing Lee to an offer sheet last year. The 49ers matched it.

A 6-foot-2, 180-pounder, Lee was an all-state baseball pitcher in high school and played defensive back on the football team as well as punting. So, he's an athlete, not just a kicker.

As a rookie, Lee launched an 81-yard kick, longest in the NFL that year. The 74-yarder also tops the league's punters so far. He even learned to master the tricky wind currents in San Francisco, although he told Emmons in a recent interview, "The winds here suck."

Andy Lee doesn't suck. Not at all. The way he's kicking, he's looking like a lock for the Pro Bowl.

The way his team is going, though, he'll be making the flight to Hawaii alone.
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CommentsComments: 6  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
9erfanNdallas		01:18 PM
10/31/2007
really people, is this the spotlight of the san francisco 49ers? to be talking about our punter? a team that was once for 2 1/2...
No.2
Mr.Fin		06:05 PM
10/31/2007
Better get ready to hit up the free agent market you guys gonna ruin the only player working for his money in the punter Alex...
No.3
ian		06:53 PM
10/31/2007
uh how about patrick willis, the guy who's on pace for over 200 tackles and has nearly 100 tackles already in less than 8 games?...
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