Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Posted: **Sun Mar 10, 2024 2:00 pm**

I'm watching old GOTW highlights, and I am seeing various punts by Bill Bradley for the first time. Some of his punts are incredible....the highest, weirdest-spinning punts I've ever seen. But looking at his career, he was very inconsistent from year to year and didn't even punt in some years. Does anyone remember Bradley's punting? Was he ever regarded as an elite punter? He looked like he had the potential.

Posted: **Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:35 pm**

Bryan wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 2:00 pm I'm watching old GOTW highlights, and I am seeing various punts by Bill Bradley for the first time. Some of his punts are incredible....the highest, weirdest-spinning punts I've ever seen. But looking at his career, he was very inconsistent from year to year and didn't even punt in some years. Does anyone remember Bradley's punting? Was he ever regarded as an elite punter? He looked like he had the potential.

I don't remember ever reading he was elite ... it was moe like ... "he's an elite safety and he even punts".

Looking back though, he was among the best in net punting in 1969 and 1972 ... to the degree that coaches looked for that ... in the public's eye it didn't become a thing until later ...

but with you mentioning this I did look up some old stuff ... his college coach said he could get kicks off faster than "anyone in the country" and in windy conditions, he could hold the ball until he kicked it right out of his hand. So, did that translate to NFL? Well, he never had one blocked.

I doubt he had much time to even work on punting in the NFL ... being a starter after his rookie year.

For whatever season, they acquired Tom McNeill after 1970 ... and Bradley only punted whe McNeill got hurt in 1972 and in 1973 ...

So, back then you never turned on the TV and an announcer said he was a good punter ... just that he could do it. There could have been, Eagles not on TV a lot.

I think the new statistic available (after I took years doing some of that by hand) we can see he was at least effective in what you like to see now, a small difference between net and gross and in the years I did his inside the 20 he had 12-16 or so

Posted: **Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:07 am**

JohnTurney wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:35 pm
Bryan wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 2:00 pm I'm watching old GOTW highlights, and I am seeing various punts by Bill Bradley for the first time. Some of his punts are incredible....the highest, weirdest-spinning punts I've ever seen. But looking at his career, he was very inconsistent from year to year and didn't even punt in some years. Does anyone remember Bradley's punting? Was he ever regarded as an elite punter? He looked like he had the potential.
I don't remember ever reading he was elite ... it was moe like ... "he's an elite safety and he even punts".

Looking back though, he was among the best in net punting in 1969 and 1972 ... to the degree that coaches looked for that ... in the public's eye it didn't become a thing until later ...

but with you mentioning this I did look up some old stuff ... his college coach said he could get kicks off faster than "anyone in the country" and in windy conditions, he could hold the ball until he kicked it right out of his hand. So, did that translate to NFL? Well, he never had one blocked.

I doubt he had much time to even work on punting in the NFL ... being a starter after his rookie year.

For whatever season, they acquired Tom McNeill after 1970 ... and Bradley only punted whe McNeill got hurt in 1972 and in 1973 ...

So, back then you never turned on the TV and an announcer said he was a good punter ... just that he could do it. There could have been, Eagles not on TV a lot.

I think the new statistic available (after I took years doing some of that by hand) we can see he was at least effective in what you like to see now, a small difference between net and gross and in the years I did his inside the 20 he had 12-16 or so

Thanks John. That is interesting info.

Posted: **Fri Mar 15, 2024 12:42 pm**

I've gotten to chat with him some - and he told me that he made the Eagles as a punter. If you're aware of the Big 33 high school all-star game, he said he made the Texas team as a punter first, backup QB second - so, his punting goes all the way back to high school.

He said he started playing DB in the NFL during a game that the Eagles were getting routed by the Cowboys. He asked the coach if he could go in at DB since the game was already lost. The coach sent him in, and Bill returned an interception back for a touchdown. That's what got him playing DB in the NFL. I'd have to look up the stats, but I don't think he punted much after that game.

Posted: **Mon Mar 25, 2024 4:32 pm**

Interestingly Joe Zagorski has a new book coming out about Bradley. Maybe some of this will be mentioned ...

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