First of all, allow me to say that I appreciate you not bringing another punter onto the roster during the offseason, particularly after I nearly pulled a Garo Yepremian in the divisional playoff round game against the Colts, and almost got drawn and quartered at the same time.
Yes, I was lucky to walk away with an AC joint sprain - which is a fancy way of saying that it separated - and I was also fortunate enough that the football found its way out of the end zone for a safety, because a touchdown in that situation could have had game-altering implications.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda, huh coach? No need to go into your "ifs and buts were candy and nuts" routine, because I get it.
A punter is no different than anyone else when it comes to ball security, and the next time Danny Aiken air mails one like that I promise to kick the freaking ball out of the end zone instead of trying to make a play.
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| I tried to lateral to Tavon, but got creamed instead |
Obviously, you feel that way as well or some other snot-nosed lefty would be here in camp giving me a run for my roster spot, like you did last season in offering me a fair shot at unseating fellow lefty Zoltan Mesko. This despite the fact that he was pretty well firmly entrenched as your punter - and also despite the fact that I have never held for a placekicker before in my college career, something that you require of your punter.
But I also know that you prefer left-footed kickers because the weird spin that we lefties can put on the ball plays mind games with returners, so we worked hard in camp and got me up to speed on holding for Ghost.
And it paid off in spades, as you witnessed first-hand in the regular season game against the Broncos last season - and not even an experienced returner like Wes Welker knew what to do when one of those spinners was coming down in front of him.
That game was epic - the comeback of all comebacks, and having a part in the final outcome and getting to celebrate in the victory made me feel like I actually did belong.
I punted 76 times last season - perhaps far more than you would have liked, but hopefully my average of nearly 46 yards per kick and the fact that I placed almost half of those inside the opponent's 20 yard line has validated your decision to go with a rookie over a tenured veteran - and I'll assume that you not bringing in any competition for me in camp means that you were satisfied with the results.
This is not to say that I have reached any sort of comfort level in my employment, nor is it to suggest that you have, either - rather, I feel that I have enough upside and learned enough on the job last season to know that a return to the fundamentals, and improving the hang time on my punts will make a world of difference.
Sincerely,
Ryan
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Résumé
Ryan Allen
c/o New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium
1 Patriot Place
Foxborough, Massachusetts 02035
To become a special teams' weapon by providing our defense with the best possible field position with each of my kicks
Education:
Bachelor's Degree in Business Management from Louisiana Tech University (Class of 2012)
Professional Experience:
2013 - Present: Punter and holder for the New England Patriots of the National Football League
Awards and Honors:
- Unanimous All American Punter (2012)
- Two-time Ray Guy Award winner (2011, 2012)
- Second-team All American Punter (2011)
- 76 punts for an average of 45.9 yards per kick
- 29 punts placed inside the 20 yard line
- 10 punts placed inside the 10 yard line
- Forced 13 fair catches
- Opponents returned 29 punts for an average of 7.62 yards per return
- 4 punts for an average of 50.9 yards per kick
- 3 punts placed inside the 20 yard line
- Forced one fair catch
- Opponents returned one punt for -1 yards
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