TK Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 http://www.redskins.com/story.asp?ContentID=12346 Barker On Verge Of Punting Milestone 12/04/2003 By Tom Mackie Redskins Insider For the 14th consecutive season, punter Bryan Barker has proven his dependability. That attribute will pay off in the coming weeks—possibly in this Sunday's game against the New York Giants: With three more punts, Barker will eclipse 1,000 for his career. Barker would become the 13th punter to have 1,000 or more punts in his career. He would join a club that includes Sean Landeta (1,314 punts, the most ever), Lee Johnson (1,226), Jeff Feagles (1,206), Brian Hansen (1,057), Mark Royals (1,061), Ray Guy (1,049) and Mike Horan (1,003), among others. “I take pride in working hard and I’ve been doing it for 14 years,” Barker said. “I suppose the number of punts would eventually start to accumulate. Obviously the goal is to punt as few as you can in a game. But it’s a pretty good milestone as far as punters are concerned.” Barker has also punted 743 times without a block. The NFL record of 960 is held by Chris Gardocki of Cleveland. Now in his third season in Washington, Barker is averaging 40.1 yards per punt. He has been steady throughout his career, averaging 42.4 yards per punt. Steadiness is all coaches can ask for from a punter. Earlier this year, Barker had to fight his way back into the picture. A year ago, he struggled with his punts in several games and then suffered a serious facial injury in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day that ended his 2002 season. As the Redskins’ holder on field goal attempts, he went after a loose ball following a block and found himself in a pile. “I fell on the ball, the whistle blew and then the pile came on me,” he recounted. “Somebody’s knee hit my nose and it was one of those freak accidents. Doctors were concerned that if I had any more bleeding in my head, it could be fatal.” Barker was sidelined for the remainder of season and was told to avoid strenuous exercise. So he did the only thing he could do. “I reflected back on my career and quickly realized that I love to do this,” he said. “So when I got the green light to work out, I went at it full time and came back in probably the best shape I’d ever been in for training camp.” Like any NFL team dealing with a player coming back from a serious injury, the Redskins brought in two punters to compete with Barker. They tried Brent Bartholomew, a three-year veteran from Ohio State, and David Leaverton, a first-year player from Tennessee. Barker won the punting competition rather easily. The odyssey of a NFL punter is never an easy one—Barker’s career has been no different. After a stellar career at Santa Clara, Barker originally signed as a rookie free agent with the Denver Broncos in 1988. He was released before training camp and signed with the Seattle Seahawks the following season. He was waived again, then picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1990. He has been an established NFL punter ever since. Barker went on to play four seasons with Kansas City, one with Philadelphia, six with Jacksonville—making the Pro Bowl in 1997—and the last three with the Redskins. Of course, any time you’re talking about a Redskin player and the art of punting, you have to recount the talents of the great Sammy Baugh. The Redskin legend still holds the NFL record for career (45.1 yards) and season (51.4 yards) punting average. Baugh’s career spanned 1937-52 and his top season as a punter came in 1940. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Man, I miss Mike Bragg. I even miss Matt Turk... :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 maybe his 1,000th will be the greatest Shank ever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phat Hog Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Originally posted by Bufford The Sheep maybe his 1,000th will be the greatest Shank ever! :laugh: Man, that will take some doing considering the shanks he has had this year :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 maybe he can Shank it backyards for a safety Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridironmike Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 I hope he doesn't reach that milestone this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMac Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 redskins.com is just a positive PFW article instead of a negative one each week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurent Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Is Barker really that bad? Maybe I just don't pay enough attention to special teams but to me it seems as if he's having a pretty solid season. Then again, he sat a pretty low standard for himself last season... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Symbol Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Originally posted by laurent Is Barker really that bad? Maybe I just don't pay enough attention to special teams but to me it seems as if he's having a pretty solid season. Then again, he sat a pretty low standard for himself last season... You want a little proof of how bad he is? How's this then? "With three more punts, Barker will eclipse 1,000 for his career." "Barker has also punted 743 times without a block. The NFL record of 960 is held by Chris Gardocki of Cleveland." Chris Gardocki isn't in the 1000 punt club either. I know, it says among others. So before I even did this, I checked, Gardocki has exactly 960 punts for his career, meaning he's never had a punt blocked. Why couldn't we have had him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophet Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Originally posted by Symbol You want a little proof of how bad he is? How's this then? "With three more punts, Barker will eclipse 1,000 for his career." "Barker has also punted 743 times without a block. The NFL record of 960 is held by Chris Gardocki of Cleveland." Chris Gardocki isn't in the 1000 punt club either. I know, it says among others. So before I even did this, I checked, Gardocki has exactly 960 punts for his career, meaning he's never had a punt blocked. Why couldn't we have had him? huh? I can not understand what you are saying.... speak da english :rotflmao: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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