Making The Call: A Career Worth Remembering

Jeff Feagles retired this week after a NFL career that spanned four decades. At 44, Feagles decided that he just couldn’t physically handle the demands of the NFL. He alerted the Giants before the NFL Draft and they drafted a punter to replace him. Matt Dodge, who was born a year before Feagles started punting in the NFL.

Over his 22-year career, Feagles punted over 1,700 times and amassed almost 40 miles of distance. But that’s not what he will be remembered for. Feagles will be remembered for a skill that is a lost art in the NFL today; the directional kick.
It’s amazing that in an era where punt returners have become more and more dangerous that more punters have lost the ability to place the ball safely out of bounds, but that is what made Feagles so special. He could make the ball unreturnable from anywhere on the field. It wasn’t always a very long punt, but the coaches knew it would not be returned for a touchdown.

It would be fitting if one day Feagles earn enshrinement in Canton, but it is unlikely. To date not a single punter has ever been elected to the Hall of Fame. It’s an amazing oversight, but perhaps also a reflection of the macho NFL where punting is considered a failure. Jeff Feagles managed to turn that “failure” into a 22-year career.

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By Peter Trinkle in News on May 2, 2010 3:00 PM

Comments [rss]

JenChungsBaby

I'm not worried about who's going to do the punting as much as who's going to hold for kicks. Feagles was the best at that. BTW, can you believe the Eagles ever let him go, with a name like Jeff Feagles?

inoyourider

Feagles was great, one of the few to really be an advantage to have at the position of punter.

Definitely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame- a punter is actually a pretty big player, and Feagles made a difference in the game.

jaycjay

"It’s amazing... that more punters have lost the ability to place the ball safely out of bounds"

Few of today's punters have that ability. None have lost it. That would be amazing.

WesleySnipesAlot

http://img.moronail.net/img/5/6/1156.jpg

jaycjay

"To date not a single punter has ever been elected to the Hall of Fame. It’s an amazing oversight"

Is it? Which punters -- keeping in mind of course that Feagles is not yet eligible -- do you think deserve Hall of Fame recognition? Sean Landeta is a pretty good bet to eventually get a nod, having been named to two All-Decade Teams by the Hall of Fame committee, but he also is not yet eligible. Ray Guy had a pretty good career, but personally I don't see it as a Hall of Fame career. And before his career began, there weren't many pure punters.

Really there's nothing "amazing" about the fact that there aren't yet any Hall of Fame punters. "Logical" would have been a better word in that sentence, or perhaps "reasonable".

whitecastlerock

Ray Guy was an amazing punter-if anyone deserves to get into the Hall, it would be him. He was anything but pretty good.

7× Pro Bowl selection (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980)

6× First-team All-Pro selection (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978)

2× Second-team All-Pro Selection (1979, 1980)

3× Super Bowl champion (XI, XV, XVIII)

NFL's 75th Anniversary Team

NFL 1970s All-Decade Team

jaycjay

"Spanning four decades" means his career covered at least part of the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. Though technically that's not the case as he will not play in 2010 it will be the official year of his retirement.

Son of Spam

He already did play in 2010.

dignam

How does four decades equal 22 years?

Whoops.

Son of Spam

The writer didn't say he played 4 decades, they said his career "spanned" 4 decades, to which I think they meant "he played in 4 separate decades."

Ignoring the argument that decades don't start until the first day of the "1" year (eg. 1991, 2001, 2011), that is true, he started his career in the 80s and ended it on January 3, 2010.

"Spanned" is not the optimal verb use there. Would have been caught by a copy editor.