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P Andy Groom (National Champion)

Good luck for Andy... last year he said punters with NFL experiance kept getting the nod... well all three of the guys gunning for the position have not played in the league... this is his best shot to make the league IMO...
 
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It's still hard for me to believe Groom hasn't found a home yet. Just doesn't make any sense. Andy is a better punter than a lot of the "seasoned veterans" I saw in the NFL last year. Experience or not he deserves a shot. Hey, that rhymed. I'm a poet and didn't know it...
 
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Nutty,

He was on the news in Columbus during the season last year... he said he had a few tryouts with different teams, and some of the tryouts he was (his views not the teams) the best guy there... he said teams really like vets and he doesn't have "NFL experiance" so some teams passed on him.

That is why I said this could be a good thing for him... of the three going for the position, none have "NFL experiance"...
 
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ashlandbuck said:
With the absolutely lousy punting in the NFL, I'm surprised this kid doesn't make it.
Is it a lot harder to punt in the NFL or something? Different size ball, must punt faster to avoid block, etc.? It seems net punting averages are much better in college than the pros and you would expect the opposite (or at least the same).

The guys trying to block the punt are bigger/faster/better, but so are your blockers. The coverage should be better, but the return guys and blockers are better too. I don't get it.
 
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It's just a lot harder to stick in the NFL as a punter. They only carry one per team, so you have to supplant the vet, which is nearly impossible because they a) never get hurt, and b) play until they're 60 (Sean Landetta, hello).
 
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BuckeyeInTheBoro said:
Is it a lot harder to punt in the NFL or something? Different size ball, must punt faster to avoid block, etc.? It seems net punting averages are much better in college than the pros and you would expect the opposite (or at least the same).

The guys trying to block the punt are bigger/faster/better, but so are your blockers. The coverage should be better, but the return guys and blockers are better too. I don't get it.
Groom was interviewed on 1460TheFan the other day and talked about the difference between kicking in the NFL and college. He claimed in college he could just kick the ball and his objective was just to kick it as far as he could. In the NFL coaches wanted hang time over distance so it caused him to change his punting style(the way he dropped the ball, the way he struck it, etc.) but he was working on it to get better. Hopefully he makes the adjustment and lands a job down the road.
 
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Groom waived?
wave_couple.gif
 
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Andy Groom to Give it One More Shot

http://ohiostate.scout.com/2/348002.html

Groom To Give It One More Shot
By Dave Biddle Assistant Editor
Date: Jan 31, 2005

Andy Groom was one of the top punters in the nation during his junior and senior seasons at Ohio State (2001-02). However, Groom has had his share of bad luck in the NFL. Bucknuts.com caught up with Groom for the latest... and it looks like he will be needing a passport.

Former Ohio State punter Andy Groom was a first-team All-American selection in 2002 when the Buckeyes captured the national championship.

He averaged 45 yards per punt in both 2001 and ’02 and it seemed pretty obvious that he had a long NFL career ahead of him.

However, it hasn’t exactly worked out according to plan.

After graduating from OSU in spring of 2003, Groom signed a free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – who were fresh off a Super Bowl championship.

There were only two punters in the Bucs’ camp. Groom, and some guy named Tom Tupa.

Tupa graduated from Ohio State in 1988 and was a third round draft pick by the Phoenix Cardinals. Entering 2003, he had 16 years under his belt as an NFL punter and was one of the best in the league with a 43.5 career average.

Groom knew it would be very difficult unseating Tupa, and it was. Groom was cut and was forced to wait until the next season.

So, in 2004, after studying all the NFL rosters, he decided that San Francisco was the best place for him. The 49ers needed a punter, they targeted Groom and he signed a free agent contract with them.

However, once again, things did not work out for the former Buckeye.

“They ended up drafting a punter in the sixth round (Andy Lee from Pittsburgh), so, it was his job,” Groom said.

Groom has been the victim of bad luck thus far in his NFL career. Once he gets his punting foot in the door, he’ll likely stick in the league for a while. But he just needs one good opportunity.

“I’ve just been in two bad situations,” Groom said. “The first one, going up against Tom, he was coming off of hernia surgery and I was pretty much insurance in case he didn’t recover. Tom is a great guy and I hope he continues it. He was great to me, but I was basically insurance there.

“Then, San Francisco came on last year and (general manager) Terry Donahue told me they weren’t going to draft anybody and they weren’t going to go after a veteran. But after I signed with them, they went after a veteran in the beginning, and after they didn’t get the veteran, they drafted somebody. So, I’ve just been in two bad situations.”

A lot of times, NFL kickers and punters will get cut in training camp, but will still have time to catch on somewhere else. In 2003, the Carolina Panthers cut kicker Shayne Graham, who signed with the Cincinnati Bengals the final week of the preseason and won the job.

However, the 49ers cut Groom too late to find another job.

“Well, I got cut the last game of the preseason, so, it was too late to hook on with another team,” he said. “And it wasn’t really a competition in camp with them. They gave (Lee) all the punts. He had 24 punts in the preseason and I had four. He’s another good dude, but I didn’t feel I was given a shot to win the job.”

Lee ended up averaging 41.6 yards per punt for the Niners in 2004. Chances are good that Groom would have done just as good, or better, but it wasn’t meant to be.

So, here is Groom in the same situation he was in two years ago. He is scanning NFL rosters, looking for the right fit. The next step for him is to show what he can do in NFL Europe.

“I’m talking to a few NFL teams right now, but I’m probably going to end up in Europe starting Feb. 28,” Groom said.

Groom is not sure which NFL Europe team he will be playing for.

“No, we have a little three day camp in Tampa Bay and from there one of the teams picks you up,” he said. “There’s six teams in the league.”

Groom has reached the end of the line. If he doesn’t realize his NFL dream in 2005, then it will be time to find a real job.

“I think this is going to be my last year,” he said. “I’m getting sick of it. It’s either make the NFL next season, or I’m done.”

Of course, knowing the way Groom rises to the occasion, he could go to NFL Europe, put on a punting clinic, and have NFL teams lining up to sign him.

“Yeah, that would be nice,” he said. “But I know how it is. Every team wants a guy with a lot of experience and the only way to get that is go to Europe or go to Canada, because they’re not going to put a rookie in there unless he’s a draft pick.”

No NFL team will have Groom’s rights while he’s playing in Europe. Since he won’t be the property of any NFL team, he can sign with anyone heading into training camp.

“A lot of times an NFL team will send you to Europe and I have three teams interested in me right now,” Groom said. “But, I might be going over there by myself just so if I do have a good season over there, weigh my options of which team I should sign with afterwards and go to the NFL camp with. I’ll know more in the next week.”

Groom does not have a personal trainer. He was working out at OSU’s Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Monday.

“No, I used to work out near my place in Columbus, but I came back here a couple weeks ago just because there’s more equipment and I can punt inside when it’s too bad outside,” he said.

Groom didn’t have many flaws while he was at OSU, but he continues to find ways to improve his game. Hang time is the one area he thinks he needs some improvement.

The Browns should really sign this guy, if only for training camp. Anything besides Derrick "7 yards" Frost.
 
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