Super Bowl-winning veteran gives glowing review to Broncos' rookie punter

USA Today

9 hours ago

Going into preseason, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton said he wanted to see consistency from rookie punter Jeremy Crawshaw, whom the team picked in the sixth round of April's draft out of Florida.
The Australian punter has a powerful leg, and he received a glowing review from San Francisco 49ers veteran Thomas Morstead after the team's first preseason game.
"It was funny, both he and Morstead were there," Broncos coach Sean Payton said when asked about Crawshaw's preseason debut. "I told you guys I had the chance to draft him in New Orleans in 2009. I don't know what year it is for him now, 18? He was a fifth-round pick, and he came up to me afterwards and just went on about having a chance to meet our guy and then watch his flexibility. He just said — and Thomas has done this long enough — he said, 'Man, you really got a good one.' So it's working through some of those things that we do with rookies. You guys see it, and him getting used to the game situations. He has a bright future.'
Morestead won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints and he has a Pro Bowl selection and a second-team All-Pro nod on his resume. The 39-year-old punter knows what it takes to have success as a punter in the NFL.
'Like I've said before with Jeremy, his talent level is outstanding," special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi said of Crawshaw. "Like any specialist, the most important thing is the production on the field. There's talent and there's production, and so the consistency is going to be the most important thing.
"It's like you guys have probably heard me talk before, specialists are a lot like golfers or swingers in baseball. You could be the most talented guy, but when you get in the batter's box or the tee box, you've got to produce. So that's the only thing we have left in this equation is getting him out there in these games, putting him in some live situations and seeing it. He's a pleasure to work with every day. I'm really, really happy we have him.'
Crawshaw had three punts for 111 yards last week, averaging 37 yards per boot with a long of 50 yards. Denver knows he has the talent. With time, the consistency should follow.
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