| No. 16, 5, 10, 18 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Punter | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1973-01-04)January 4, 1973 (age 53) Setauket, New York, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Ward Melville(East Setauket, New York) | ||||||||
| College | West Virginia | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1995: 2nd round, 56th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Todd Scott Sauerbrun (/ˈsaʊ.ərbrən/; born January 4, 1973) is an American former professionalfootball player who was apunter in theNational Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He playedcollege football for theWest Virginia Mountaineers, and was recognized as aunanimous All-American in 1994. He was drafted by theChicago Bears in the second round of the1995 NFL draft, and also played for theKansas City Chiefs,Carolina Panthers,Denver Broncos, andNew England Patriots of the NFL, and theFlorida Tuskers of theUnited Football League (UFL).
Sauerbrun was born and raised onLong Island, inSetauket, New York. He attendedWard Melville High School inEast Setauket, and was a letterman in football andlacrosse.[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[as of?] the New York State high school record). In lacrosse, he was a high school U.S. Lacrosse All-America selection. He still[as of?] holds the Ward Melville record for leading midfield scorer with 109 goals and 24 assists for 133 points.
He wanted to play both football and lacrosse in college and was recruited to playcollege lacrosse by several programs includingSyracuse.[2]
Sauerbrun attended West Virginia University, where he was a punter for theWest 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.
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft9+3⁄4 in (1.77 m) | 206 lb (93 kg) | 29+3⁄8 in (0.75 m) | 9 in (0.23 m) |
Sauerbrun was drafted in the second round by theChicago Bears 56th overall in the1995 NFL draft.[3] 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.[4] He spent the 2000 season with theKansas City Chiefs, and was signed by theCarolina Panthers before the 2001 season.
Sauerbrun achieved both his greatest success and biggest problems while with Carolina. He was picked for thePro Bowl to represent theNFC in the 2002, 2003, and 2004 seasons. Sauerbrun also became the first player from either conference since theAFL-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, startingplacekickerJohn 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.[5]
In December 2004, he was charged withdriving under the influence, and he was named in an investigation ofsteroids use in the NFL linked to a South Carolina doctor during the 2004 season.[6]
As of 2017[update]'s NFL off-season, Todd Sauerbrun held at least 10 Panthers franchise records, including:
On May 19, 2005, Sauerbrun was traded to theDenver Broncos for punterJason 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 supplementephedra. On October 17, 2006, the day he was supposed to come back from his suspension, Denver cut him in favor of punterPaul Ernster.
One of Sauerbrun's most notable NFL career moments occurred during theAFC Divisional Playoffs on January 14, 2006, when, in a rare move for a team punter, he managed to tackleNew England Patriots returnerEllis Hobbs after his own kickoff and forced a fumble, which was recovered by teammateCecil Sapp. This eventually led to a Broncos field goal, which helped Denver defeat the Patriots 27–13, ending New England's bid for three consecutiveSuper 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, theDenver Broncos signed Sauerbrun to a one-year contract. However, a week later, the Patriots announced their decision to match Denver's offer to Sauerbrun.[7] Shortly thereafter, theNFL 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.[8]
Prior to facing theChicago Bears, Sauerbrun stated that he would kick toDevin Hester, who was well known for his success as akick andpunt 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."[9] Hester responded by returning both a punt and kick-off for touchdowns.[10] Sauerbrun attempted to tackle Hester on both returns, but failed.[10] Later in the game, Sauerbrun had a punt blocked byCharles Tillman while attempting to kick away from Hester.[10]Keith Olbermann, a commentator and anchor forNBC, awarded Sauerbrun with his dubious "Worst Person in the NFL Award", for challenging Hester and failing to stop him.[11]
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.[12]
Sauerbrun was signed by theFlorida Tuskers of theUnited Football League on September 9, 2009.[13]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |