[img_r]http://wauk-am.tritondigitalmedia.com/includes/news_items/40/3396/bryanmasthay.jpg[/img_r]GREEN BAY From the outside looking in, the Green Bay Packers endless search for a serviceable punter looks like its hit rock bottom. One of their options spent last football season tutoring University of Kentucky student-athletes, and the other is an Australian import whose previous experience kicking an NFL football can only be found on YouTube.
And yet, general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy are more than just confident that either Tim Masthay or Chris Bryan will be the teams punter and be a good one when the regular season kicks off Sept. 12. They sound downright certain.
They both have a lot of talent, theyre working very hard, and our special teams guys are pretty excited about them, Thompson said Friday afternoon, shortly before McCarthy held the first practice of the annual post-draft rookie orientation camp. Were going through the process. Thats the way you determine this thing.
I just think these guys have the ability to punt in the league. And we want to give them the freedom to compete and see how it works out.
Said McCarthy: We definitely have crossed that hurdle (in) the way I view the punting position. There's definitely more talent with these two guys than there has been in the past, and that's definitely a big step in the right direction.
The battle begins
So while the rookie orientation camp is normally about the youngsters recently added to the roster, the two players generating the most buzz Friday werent among their seven draft picks or members of their 11-player undrafted rookie free-agent class.
Instead, they were Masthay, who played collegiately at Kentucky and signed with the Packers in January after being out of football last season after being released by Indianapolis in August, and Bryan, who signed with the Packers in March and is hoping to join Philadelphia's Sav Rocca and Arizona's Ben Graham as former Australian Rules Footballers punting in the NFL.
Although the two have been working out since mid-March, their punting has been essentially for special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum and other staffers. Fridays practice kicked off the competition in earnest, with organized team activity practices, minicamp and training camp still to come.
As of right now, its just me and Chris Bryan on the roster, so as far as I can tell, its just an open competition for now between the two of us, Masthay said. Every day matters, so this is really kind of the beginning to all the sort of tests leading up (to the decision). You want to do well in rookie camp, you want to do well in OTAs, you want to do well in minicamp in June. Hopefully that gets you to training camp, and you want to do in training camp so you can get to the preseason, then you want to do well in preseason so you can get to the actual roster.
This is definitely a big first step.
Neither punter was particularly impressive during Friday afternoons practice, although no real conclusions could be drawn from a workout inside the Don Hutson Center, where the best kicks end up clanking off the ceiling.
That was probably a normal workout, McCarthy said. Obviously they were hitting the roof the whole time, (but) I think that's going to be a very good competition that we'll have to keep a close eye on all the way through training camp.
Differing backgrounds
Masthay and Bryan are vying to replace Jeremy Kapinos, an exclusive rights free agent who did not receive a qualifying offer from the team at the start of free agency. Kapinos, who beat out an injured Durant Brooks in training camp to keep the job he inherited from Derrick Frost with four games left in the 2008 season, finished the season tied for 32nd in the NFL in net average (34.1 yards per punt), 16th in gross punting at 43.8 yards per punt), 32nd in the league in touchback percentage (15.2%) and 33rd in inside-the-20 percentage (22.7%).
Masthay, 23, entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Colts last spring and was released in mid-August, before even kicking in a preseason game. (The Packers had him rated as the top punter in the 2009 draft.) At Kentucky, he finished his final season ranked fifth in the country with a 45.3-yard average and had been working out on the UK campus while tutoring students.
It was nice to be there because I had access to the facilities to work out, hoping Id get back to a place like Green Bay, said Masthay, who had tryouts in Green Bay, Tampa Bay, New York and New England last year but went unsigned. Im actually more confident now than I have been because of the past two months, as Ive been working out and hitting the ball well and my fundamentals have gotten better.
So yeah, I do feel confident that I can play in this league. Now its just a matter of, I know I have to perform in these next stages to get to that, which is the toughest part.
Bryan, 28, faces even greater challenges, since he doesnt even know all the NFL rules yet.
Im doing a lot of video work, and watching the game, Im seeing the refs doing all the hand moves and Im not sure what theyre doing, Bryan confessed. Basically I know I have to kick the ball long and high and hopefully they cant return it.
Long way to say Gday
The Packers first learned of the 6-foot-5, 210-pound left-footed Bryan through Nathan Chapman, a former Australian Rules player who went to training camp with the Packers in 2004. Chapman runs a punting academy called ProKick Australia, where he trains players who want to punt in the NFL or NCAA. Hes placed several players in NCAA programs in addition to helping Bryan get his shot with the Packers.
Chapman and Packers college scouting director John Dorsey have stayed in touch via Skype, talking once a month before Bryans signing and about once a week since.
(Chapman) swears up and down by this kid, Dorsey said.
Reached in Australia Friday evening (Wisconsin time), Chapman said he only took Bryan on because he was convinced he could cut it in the NFL.
I don't just train just anybody. I have to see that ability to know that I'm not wasting my time, Chapman said. Chris has definitely got what it takes. If I'm going to put my reputation and the school's reputation on the line, I have to make sure they can do it.
After being cut by the Packers at the end of the 2004 training camp, Chapman had a tryout with Cincinnati but wasnt offered a contract. He returned home in 2006 and started his kicking academy to help other Aussies be more prepared for their opportunities than he was.
I decided, OK, I'm going to help out anyone else who wants to try it and help them not make the same mistakes I made and give them a better opportunity,' Chapman said. I wanted to give these guys a real chance.
He said there are generally two types of punters he works with ones who kick the ball across their body with a hook (Thats the normality in our game, Chapman said) and those with more of a defined kick. Bryan falls into the latter category and therefore has a better chance of success, but he will have his work cut out for him.
You'll see his Aussie Rules indirect kick be very accurate because that's the norm, but in terms of the spiral and technique an NFL coach is going to be happy with, I have to strip back 20 years of muscle memory, Chapman said. You really have to retrain them.
To promote Bryan's progress, Chapman actually posted video of him on YouTube complete with Johnny Cashs The Wanderer playing in the background. In the video, Bryan is kicking on a soccer field with markers every 10 yards and the hang-times and distances posted after each kick.
It was funny. There were a lot of comments (on the video), said Bryan, who played four seasons with two Australian Football League teams before being de-listed by Collingwood last year. There were some questions like, Are you sure those are 10 yards apart, not nine? We were like, Were not going to pull the wool over your eyes and then if I cant do it, then I cant do it. Im not going to come over here and not be any good. But those were questions. The proof was there with all the coaches putting the clock on the video.
Punting well by yourself on an Australian soccer field and doing so in front of 70,000 fans with a playoff berth on the line are vastly different situations, but the Packers feel Bryans five years of pro experience playing Australian Rules Football will help him.
Hes played in professional environment, played in front of large crowds, Dorsey said. Chris is mature enough to handle adversity. Are there subtle differences to each game? Yeah, but I think hell adjust.
That adjustment will take awhile, Bryan admitted including not using the Australian Rules ball anymore.
Its a little bigger, a little fatter through the middle and not as pointy. So the sweet spot on the Australian Rules Football is a lot bigger, so its a little bit more forgiving, Bryan said. If you miss the sweet spot on this one, you look bad.
I put pressure on myself to perform. I want to make sure every kick I do, even in practice, is a good kick. And when I dont, Im not happy with that so I go and work on it. I dont think anyone can put more pressure on you than yourself. Im a pretty harsh critic of my ability.