Boomerangs, Knuckleballs, Hooks: How Sam Koch & the Ravens Changed Punting | NFL Films Presents

think of ravens punter Sam Cook as a golfer who has 14 clubs in his bag and can pull off any shot Sam just does it with a football and his right leg well that's just great H and somewhat fitting because uh Sam Cook played in the Super Bowl in New Orleans when the power went out why is the clock stopped and you know what he did during the blackout he played catch with Ray Lewis here's Ray tossing the ball around where's Sam no one shot Sam you guys have 32 cameras at the Super Bowl and no one got a shot of the poor punter guys punters are people too shout out to Rich Eisen for that punters are people too of course after the lights came back on cook was the focus of every camera with 12 seconds left in the Super Bowl standing in his own End Zone and his team holding a five-point lead come on Sam do you take a safe standing in the end zone and that's exactly what he's going to do clock is at seven cook running around still on his feet and finally chased out of bounds with 4 seconds left on the clock St that was a great job by Sam Cook was drafted by the Ravens in the sixth round in 2006 for his first 8 and a half Seasons this might have been his career highlight we've seen it all tonight in New Orleans and the Ravens beat the 49ers I don't know if I believe this man D I don't know either but you did a hell of a job baby I a great job on that safety it won't get him on the Mount Rushmore of punters along with Hall of Famer Sammy B and Ray guy but when cook does kick the ball it's worth watching he's changing the punting game he's not kicking it farther he's kicking it smarter pting is so monotonous Everybody Just Hits a turnover ball the turnover ball is just a spiral it just looks like Joe flacko throwing a spiral so it goes up in the air it turns over as we call it and then comes down gives you distance more hang [Music] time so all these are is turnover balls this is what gets you in the NFL just being able to hit a turnover ball like this but the returner is just going to Camp underneath that one and they're really comfortable with those you can kick a turnover B higher and farther but it's easier to catch yes so that's why we leads us to the other punts we throw up a knuckle ball that's just literally going to come down and look like a knuckle ball from a [Music] pitcher each returner has to think about it when they go to approach it they're going to have to to decide well do I go for this and risk a fumble or muff in my stats or do they just let it bounce and then we have the opportunity to down it inside the [Music] 20 we have turnovers liners hooks Knuckles boomerangs and they all do different things you know golfers set up they want to hit a fade we can hit a fade but then cause the ball to come back down and run away from the returner I fell in love with punting again just by adding more things I can get the ball to do different rotations uh be basically a really stiff knuckle ball or even get it to kind of spin like a helicopter coming down it is like a golfer with different clubs I mean you're talking about someone who's really in the process of revolutionizing The Craft he says he got 17 or 18 different balls right now that he kicks I'm encouraging him during games is try this one try that one cuz cuz I know how hard they are to catch evolution in the NFL can take a long time but for cook it happened overnight a dangerous division rival was his inspiration we were like man we got to find way other than just giving it to Antonio Brown we got to find ways to keep it away from Antonio Brown make him feel uncomfortable back there and give him something other than just sitting underneath a ball camping out and catching it it's an idea that makes too much sense why kick Antonio Brown a perfect spot spir down the middle he's gone Antonio Brown a punt return for a touchdown kick to the middle never kick it in the middle kick it in the numbers the idea was hey he thinks we're pting this way we're pting that way he thinks we're punting that way we're punting this way Sam has done something that nobody's even thought about doing before if you're making a guy like that chase the ball go backwards the effective hang time is even better [Music] when it comes to punting numbers don't lie and since his Innovation Cook's stats have been the best in the league Sam Cook leads the NFL in net punting average net average is the number one thing last year it was 42 almost 43 for his first8 and 1 half Seasons his net average was 39 yards per punt cook has increased his net punting average by over three yards a three yd jump in your yes net mhm just by doing that but playing keep away yep playing a keep away and keeping them on their toes in Arizona we talked to Patrick Peterson after the game and threw him up a knuckle ball he's like not going to mess with that he wanted nothing to do with it cook hits a high knuckler Peterson let it bounce they'll back the Cardinals up to the one yd line we had the one down in Miami that ended up flying off the foot it was a liner a 67 yd punt he sort of almost kicks it like a golf swing that just wobbles all over the place the Cincinnati game I can get the ball to draw towards that sideline and once it gets over to the sideline and usually starts slowing down and making this descent usually straightens out and allows it to roll down that sideline this one skirted a on the sideline it looked ugly but it was by Design look at just hug the line we can get it to draw and just hopefully just keep on drawing out of bounds that way they have no chance can everybody do it maybe not can everybody work on it yes Johnny Hecker already utilizes a punt he calls the cook ball and there are no doubt other copycats who are scrambling to catch up but one of the of the keys to cook success is a physical one that not everyone can duplicate cook can torque his hips in a way that allows him to face the same direction until impact he can kick his 18 different punts all from the same stance making it near impossible for a returner to know what's coming until the ball is in the air now we can go from the left hash PT right we can p left all from the same stance I can get it to go over there I can get it to go over there or get it to go in the middle and we got so many different options with it what a punt by Sam Cook it's the era of the knuckle ball and Boomerang and to the fans of frustrated return men sorry Sam Cook's not sorry he's changing the game our special teams guys they've created this and they they have fun they work on it every day as far as a specialty kicks is kind of proprietary there's only 32 of us in the entire world and if you give too much then next thing you know they're taking my job if somebody wants to know all I have to do is watch a bunch of film

Channel: NFL Films

Views: 3,535,364

Keywords: NFL, Football, NFL Films, American Football, NFL Films presents, Katie Nolan, Sam Koch, Ravens, Baltimore Ravens, punt, punting, punter, turnover, knuckleball, boomerang, liner, hook, diffrent types, contain, multiple ways

Id: 5oZYO0FbZ_A

Length: 8min 10sec (490 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 26 2016