Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Know Your Super Bowl XLII Thundering Herd Alumni: Chris Hanson



No, not Chris Hansen- Chris Hanson, the one-time Pro Bowl punter who is in his first year of ball-booting duty for the Patriots. While Hansen strikes fear into the heart of child molestors everywhere, Hanson strikes fear into the heart of...uh...opposing special teams coaches?

OK, so punting isn't the manliest or most glamorous position in football. So maybe Hanson did injure himself in two of the most hilarious off-the-field incidents while in Jacksonville- spilling scalding fondue on himself in 2002 and sticking an axe in his foot in 2003. The latter incident was a result of Jack Del Rio's team-building practice of chopping away at a stump in the locker room.

But Chris has found a way to get through life making high six-figures annually for punting a football. And that probably landed him more tail than you'll ever see.

So, in the third of a very special five-part series, here is a look back at Hanson's college career.


Chris Hanson





Position: Punter

Hometown: Riverdale, GA

Years at Marshall: 1995-1998

Career Stats: 39.9 yards per punt

Draft: Undrafted (first appeared for Green Bay in 1999)

Years in NFL: 9



There's really not much to mention about Chris's Thundering Herd career. The poor guy probably wasn't drafted because most of his college punting career was defined by, well, not punting.

Even before Hansen was sitting on the sideline in 2007 watching Randy Moss score touchdowns for the Patriots, he was sitting on the sideline watching Randy Moss score touchdowns for Marshall. Chris was the punter for both of Moss's seasons in the green and white.

He would have led I-AA in punting average in 1996, but he DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH ATTEMPTS. And he wasn't hurt or anything that year. The Thundering Herd's offense in its final I-AA season was that good.

Oh yeah, he spent his season (not) punting for Chad Pennington's 12-1 1998 squad.



Best YouTube Clip


Uhh...we don't actually have any of Chris punting so here he is holding for Billy Malasevich as the kicker shuts up some 80,000 Gamecock fans.

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