The 5 best punters in Washington Commanders franchise history

In the earliest days of the NFL, teams rarely had kicking specialists. The punting and place-kicking was usually performed by one of the position players. There were a few odd exceptions, but for the most part, specialized options didn’t become common until roster sizes expanded in the 1960s.

That allowed teams the flexibility to deploy players who focused on kicking the ball. The Washington Commanders were no exception. Through the middle of the 1960s, a tight end, Pat Richter, served as the team’s punter. It wasn’t until 1968 that the franchise began employing a dedicated special teamer.

Seventy different players have punted the ball in franchise history. Seven of them did it just once. The most infamous of them was Joe Theismann.

Filling in for an injured Jeff Hayes, the quarterback booted the ball one yard in a game against the Chicago Bears. You read that right. One yard. Thus, Super Bowl-winning signal-caller Theismann owns the record for the worst punting average in NFL history.

Fortunately, Washington has had its share of excellent punters too. Here are the five greatest in franchise history.

Criteria for selection

The league-leading punter used to be determined by raw totals. Whoever punted for the most yards led the league. Over time, average yards-per-punt replaced this metric. That remains the primary standard for judging punters today.

Advanced analytics have offered a lot more tools in the last several decades. Net yards-per-punt considers the return. Touchback percentages and inside-20 statistics can demonstrate accuracy.

We will consider all of that in our ranking, to the extent available. Some of those stats simply don’t exist for players in the league’s early days. As with all of our position rankings, longevity and league honors such as Pro Bowl and All Pro selections come into the equation. In the end, wherever possible, we rely on the eye test.

There remains only one full-time punter in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which seems ludicrous at this point. Though we all know special team players rarely get the recognition they deserve - Brian Mitchell being a strong case in point - there is no reason why Oakland Raider punter Shane Lechler has yet to be enshrined. His accomplishments are on a par with Ray Guy, the one punter in Canton.

It's no surprise that Washington has no punter in the Hall of Fame. So let’s get to it. Here are the five greatest punters in franchise history.

The best five punters in Washington Commanders franchise history

5. Mike Bragg

When I was growing up in the 1970s, you could rely on a few things. Neil Diamond would always have sideburns. All in the Family would be the No. 1 show on TV. And Mike Bragg would be Washington’s punter.  

Bragg launched more punts into the air for Washington than anyone else in franchise history, never missing a game between 1968 and 1979. His 39.9 career average was mediocre even in the 1970s, but he was reliable. He was the dependable option for a conservative head coach who valued hang time and directional kicking.

I was sorely tempted to put Reggie Roby in this spot. He only played two seasons in Washington but is one of just two punters in team history to be named as a first-team All-Pro.

His numbers across the board dwarf Bragg’s. But Roby was a Miami Dolphin for most of his career. The No. 5 player on this list - despite playing a final season up the road in Baltimore - was synonymous with a Washington franchise finally returning to championship level.

Though he could never rescue you from trouble with a booming punt, Bragg led the league in net average in 1975 and was routinely among the league leaders. Be careful when you’re looking up stats like net average. The league didn’t begin tracking it until 1970, which makes the “official” number for players like this one inaccurate.

4. Sam Baker

Sam Baker began his career in Washington in 1953 but left the following year for military service. When he returned in 1956, he was nominally a running back, but he was really on the team to kick - both as a place-kicker and punter.

From 1956 to 1959, Baker averaged 44 yards per punt. He punted over 200 times for Washington and never had one blocked.

Baker was nicknamed “Sugarfoot,” mostly due to his clutch place-kicking, Though field goal statistics from his era aren’t near current numbers, the punting stats are close.

He was an excellent punter in his day, and his numbers would still hold up in the modern NFL. When Baker's place-kicking fell off in 1959, Washington traded him. He remained in the league for another 10 seasons, kicking the final five years with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Baker retired after 15 years with a punting average of 42.6 yards per kick.

3. Sammy Baugh

Sammy Baugh, one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, was also one of the greatest punters in the league’s formative years. He served as Washington’s primary punter for his first nine seasons in the league and then saw spot duty during his last four campaigns.

He retired with a 45.1 yards per kick, second highest in team history. Baugh led the league in punting five different times, and his 51.4 yards per attempt in 1940 stood as the league record for 82 years - until it was broken by Ryan Stonehouse of the Tennessee Titans in 2022.

Baugh is on the shortlist of Washington’s greatest quarterbacks. I don’t want to give anything away, but he may well show up on the list of Washington’s greatest safeties, too.

There was virtually nothing Baugh could not do on a football field. Something that ensured his lasting legacy lived through the ages.

2. Matt Turk

Matt Turk is one of two Washington punters to have been named first-team All-Pro. Reggie Roby was the other. He made the Pro Bowl in three of his five seasons with the club.

In addition to closing out his Washington career with a 43.8 yards per kick mark - fifth highest in team history - Turk also had an excellent net average of 38.3 yards per kick. He also killed 34.5 percent of his kicks inside the 20-yard line.

Turk was a huge punter, standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 250 pounds. He played college ball at DIII Wisconsin-Whitewater and only came to Washington after a couple of tryouts with other teams.

He replaced Roby and may well have remained Washington’s long-term punter had he not had a bit of a problem with the new owner. He was traded after the 1999 season. Turns out that Turk was one of the very first in town to run afoul of Dan Snyder.

1.        Tress Way

Washington’s current punter is the best in team history, and it isn’t even close. Tress Way has punted over 700 times for the Commanders - almost twice as many kicks as any other punter besides Bragg.

His 46.1 yards per kick dwarfs every other Washington punter. His net yards per kick are much higher than anyone else’s. So is his percentage that landed inside the 20-yard line. Bragg was known for rarely having his punts blocked. Way’s punt block rate has been twice as good. He has only had three efforts blocked in his 10-year career.

Way replaced Sav Rocca, who had performed well for Washington during the previous three seasons. He got a late start in the NFL after a long career in his native Australia, was 40 years old, and showed signs of slowing down.

The popular Way would lock down the position for the next decade. He was arguably one of the best players on the team as they struggled to achieve respectability in the waning days of Snyder’s ownership.

Way has been to two Pro Bowls and was second-team All-Pro in 2019. He is a perennial team captain and one of very few Washington players to receive these accolades in the past decade.

The 10 best punters in Washington Commanders franchise history by total yards

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