Steelers will get a kick out of Sepulveda

By Darrell Laurant  |   Friday, May 04, 2007  |  Comments( 2 )

Pittsburgh Steelers
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When you think about it, punters have a curious job.

The less playing time they get, the better their team's fans like it. That's because their appearance on the field is always indicative of failure -- it means the offense has been unable to move the ball.

Like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, punters are only truly appreciated in times of crisis.

You know the situation. Your team is nursing a slim lead late in the fourth quarter when the offense stalls deep in its own territory. That's when you wish they had someone like ...

Well, like Daniel Sepulveda. That's why the Pittsburgh Steelers took Baylor's senior punter in the fourth round, an almost unheard of draft spot for that position.

Sepulveda may not be Ray Guy, but he won the Ray Guy Award two years in a row. He now holds the NCAA career record for punting average at a shade over 45 yards, including 46.48 in 2006. In his last season as a Bear, he had 25 kicks over 50 yards, 26 inside the 20 and eight inside the 10.

Wait, it gets better. As Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette pointed out last week, Sepulveda is faster (4.5) and almost as big (6-foot-2, 229 pounds) as linebacker Lawrence Timmons, the Steelers' first-round draft choice. He has been clocked as low as 4.43 in the 40, which makes him a genuine threat on a fake punt.

Moreover, according to Steelers special teams coach Bob Ligashansky, Sepulveda -- a left-footed kicker -- has developed a way to make the ball jump back, like a wedge shot in golf, instead of caroming forward into the end zone.

He was a linebacker, not a punter, in high school. But his father punted, and Sepulveda's genetics came out when he auditioned for the Baylor team as a walk-on. He won a "kick-off" among prospects when he first arrived on campus and was a starter from his redshirt freshman year on.

And the Steelers need him. Their current punter, 37-year-old Chris Gardocki, is nearing the end of his career and has been plagued with back problems.

So when Sepulveda joins the team for preseason workouts and games, Steeler fans will be glad to see him -- even when they're not glad to see him.

Got a bone to pick with a newspaper columnist, talk show personality or television analyst? E-mail us at mediawatch@realfootball365.com. For more information, visit our Media Watch info page.
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