Jason Baker

Punts:	798
Punt yards:	34,097
Punting yard average:	42.7

Jason Baker
	Baker in 2008
No. 7, 6, 9
Position:	Punter
Personal information
Born:	May 17, 1978 (age 45); Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:	Wayne ; (Fort Wayne, Indiana)
College:	Iowa
Undrafted:	2001
Career history
	Philadelphia Eagles (2001)*; San Francisco 49ers (2001–2002); Philadelphia Eagles (2002); Kansas City Chiefs (2003–2004); Indianapolis Colts (2004); Denver Broncos (2004); Carolina Panthers (2005–2012);
	* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
	NFL punting yards leader (2006);
Career NFL statistics
Punts:
Punts:	798
Punt yards:	34,097
Punting yard average:	42.7
	Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Last updated April 05, 2024

Jason Michael Baker (born May 17, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He played college football at Iowa. He has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, and Carolina Panthers.

Early years

Baker attended Wayne High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana and lettered in football and baseball. In football, he won second-team All-Conference honors as a senior.

College career

Baker played college football at the University of Iowa. When he graduated, he left as the Hawkeyes' all-time leader in punts and punting yards, with 272 punts for 11,304 yards. He was named special teams MVP of the 1997 Sun Bowl for his performance in Iowa's loss against Arizona State University, after registering eight punts for 391 yards. He also made honorable mention All-Big Ten honors as a senior in 2000. He majored in business administration.

Professional career

He was not drafted by any team, and was signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles in April 2001 before being waived a short while later, not having appeared in any regular season games for them. He was then picked up by the San Francisco 49ers, and was their regular punter during the 2001 NFL season. Unfortunately, he was released the next year, and signed again by the Eagles. He played several games for them before being released again at the end of the season. He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs before the 2003 season, and was their regular punter for the whole season, averaging a respectable 39.5 yards per punt. Baker then had a bizarre season in 2004. He was waived by Kansas City, then re-signed two weeks later, then waived a week after that. He was then picked up by the Indianapolis Colts, played with them for 5 weeks, then Indianapolis waived him and he was picked up by the Denver Broncos, who he finished the season with. He played for Denver in the AFC wild card game against his former team, Indianapolis. After the season, he was traded to the Carolina Panthers with a 2006 draft pick for Pro Bowl punter Todd Sauerbrun. Baker eventually won the punting job, after battling with Tom Rouen and Steve Cheek during training camp and the preseason. He played the rest of his seven seasons in Carolina, where he averaged 44.0 yards per punt in 112 games, set most of the franchise records, twice led the league in punts, and was a Pro Bowl alternate multiple times but never attended. The Panthers rewarded him with a contract making him the highest paid punter in the NFL prior to the 2007 season. Baker is one of the fastest running punters in the NFL. He managed to surprise the Seahawks' Leon Washington in a game on December 5, 2010, tripping up the prematurely celebrating Washington to save a touchdown.

As of 2017^[update]'s NFL off-season, Jason Baker still held at least three Panthers franchise records, including:

Punts: career (570), playoff game (7 on 2006-01-22 @SEA; with Todd Sauerbrun and Brad Nortman)
Punt yards: career (25,064)

NFL career statistics

Legend
	Led the league
Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	Punting
Year	Team	GP	Punts	Yds	Net Yds	Lng	Avg	Net Avg	Blk	Ins20	TB
2001	SFO	16	69	2,813	2,443	64	40.8	35.4	0	21	4
2002	SFO	11	42	1,688	1,346	51	40.2	32.0	0	12	3
2002	PHI	2	13	445	388	44	34.2	29.8	0	2	1
2003	KAN	16	80	3,156	2,689	68	39.5	33.2	1	21	7
2004	KAN	2	9	340	242	52	37.8	26.9	0	3	0
	IND	4	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0
	DEN	4	15	591	516	48	39.4	34.4	0	7	1
2005	CAR	16	72	3,118	2,803	59	43.3	38.9	0	23	4
2006	CAR	16	98	4,483	3,861	70	45.7	39.0	1	31	12
2007	CAR	16	90	3,978	3,393	64	44.2	37.7	0	22	5
2008	CAR	16	73	3,217	2,841	63	44.1	37.4	3	30	5
2009	CAR	16	76	3,352	2,820	61	44.1	36.6	1	22	4
2010	CAR	16	95	4,097	3,469	60	43.1	36.5	0	22	7
2011	CAR	16	66	2,819	2,253	56	42.7	34.1	0	19	5
Career		167	798	34,097	29,064	70	42.7	36.1	6	235	58

Playoffs

Year	Team	Punting
Year	Team	GP	Punts	Yds	Net Yds	Lng	Avg	Net Avg	Blk	Ins20	TB
2001	SFO	1	5	183	148	45	36.6	29.6	0	3	0
2003	KAN	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0
2004	DEN	1	4	150	141	46	37.5	35.3	0	1	0
2005	CAR	3	16	600	547	52	37.5	34.2	0	7	2
2008	CAR	1	4	192	177	53	48.0	44.3	0	0	0
Career		7	29	1,125	1,013	53	38.8	34.9	0	11	2

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References

Additional Career statistics/player information: Pro Football Reference.com

External links

Carolina Panthers bio
Media related to Jason Baker at Wikimedia Commons

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