Jets' Morstead Back for More after 14 Fruitful NFL Seasons
New York Jets' veteran punter Thomas Morstead probably needs to use a second page when typing out his résumé.
The former Southern Methodist walk-on has lasted 14 seasons in the National Football League, been on a Super Bowl winning team and has made the most money of any player at his position.
Accomplished he is, but content and complacent he is not.
"Obviously, having a chance to win it all is just an awesome, awesome thing," said Morstead from his home in Louisiana a little more than one month prior to his training camp report date.
The 37-year old Morstead, who believes heavily in the Jets' ability to contend for a title, has lofty goals for the 2023 campaign.
"I want to play at an elite level. I call it elite consistency," said Morstead, who was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2009 and spent his first 12 years as a pro with the Black & Gold.
Numbers wise, the veteran specialist targets the Top 5 in net punting average as a goal to chase this season.
"I think if you're Top 5 in the league in net, then you're doing really well as a unit," said Morstead.
The Jets saw Morstead's ability to affect the game first-hand during the 2021 season, when they signed him to fill in for the injured Braden Mann.
Morstead, who made seven appearances, was subsequently released upon Mann's return. After netting 43.0 yards per punt with Gang Green, he spent the remainder of the regular season with the Atlanta Falcons.
Next, Morstead moved onto the Miami Dolphins for the entire 2022 campaign.
Heading into the 2023 free agency signing period, the Jets weren't necessarily on Morstead's radar. The battle-tested veteran seemed likely to re-sign with Miami, but the situation took an unexpected turn.
"I was excited to go back to Miami, and that just didn't pan out like I hoped it would," said Morstead. "[Free agency] is kind of an anxious time. You're uncertain about where things are headed."
Fortunately for Morstead, the uncertainty didn't last long. He announced his return to Gang Green on St. Patrick's Day, two days after the official start of the new league year.
"When the Jets reached out and said they'd like to have me back, I was pretty surprised," said Morstead. "I left on great terms, and obviously I played really well when I was here two years ago, but I just didn’t ever think I’d be back."
Returning to the Jets meant reuniting with two people who made his first stint an enjoyable one.
"I love playing for [special teams coordinator] Brant Boyer and working with Thomas Hennessy, the long snapper, so that would probably be the biggest reason for excitement," said Morstead. "Think about any job you have, the people that you spend the most time with. If you're exited to be around those people, no matter what the job entails, that was a huge piece of it."
Thomas Morstead (l) and Thomas Hennessy (r)
Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Not only was he returning to an enjoyable work environment, but Morstead was joining a team on the cusp of acquiring a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback.
"There were murmurs of Aaron Rodgers getting traded to the Jets and that was dominating the headlines all spring," said Morstead. "When I came on my visit, obviously it wasn't a done deal, but everybody felt very confident that it was going to take place."
Morstead is no stranger to superstar quarterbacks. Two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year Drew Brees was the starter for the punter's entire tenure with the Saints.
"When you have a guy that can take a game over, there's really no situation you can be in where you don't still have a chance [to win]," said Morstead. "I just think when there's the reality of that, it allows guys to play free."
The Jets' interest in the native Texan was a pleasant surprise at an advanced stage of a career that began with a surprise in Dallas nearly 20 years ago.
"I wasn't recruited out of high school," said Morstead. "I ended up getting an engineering scholarship to SMU, which essentially made the cost of college the same as going to a state school like Texas."
So, it was onto Southern Methodist University, where Morstead joined the football program as a walk-on.
"I just showed up the first day of school," said the late bloomer, who gained approximately 40 pounds of body weight at SMU. "Started going to workouts, started going to practice and did that for a few years."
Two years into his college career, Morstead earned a full scholarship and took over kicking and punting duties for the 2006 season.
"As I continued working, I just found that I was considerably more talented than I had ever thought myself to be," said Morstead.
At that point, however, the NFL hadn't crossed his mind. The opportunity to play Division I college football in his home state was really all that the Texas kid wanted.
"I just thought it'd be cool to run out in front of the crowd on a Saturday and get to be a punter or kicker for a college team," said Morstead. "Just the chance to play on Saturdays, like that was the dream."
Living that dream eventually led to another unexpected opportunity.
Thomas Morstead pulls off a successful fake punt for SMU in 2008
© Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports
Southern Methodist had long been a launching pad for a number of NFL players, most notably Eric Dickerson who went No. 2 overall at the 1983 draft.
Morstead actually crossed paths with two eventual pro receivers while playing at SMU — fellow Texans Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley. For Morstead's senior year, the Mustangs had former NFL head coach June Jones at the helm.
It wasn't exactly a football factory, but SMU was certainly a place of interest for pro scouts.
Morstead finally earned his way onto the field as a third-year college student and that season served as a epiphany of sorts.
"We played 12 different teams and I remember feeling like none of the punters that I played against were better than me," said Morstead reflecting on his first season as the SMU starter.
Morstead's belief in his ability was confirmed the following year.
"Then, at the end of my fourth year, we were second in NCAA Division I [FBS] in net punting out of 120 teams," said Morstead. "After that, I remember thinking I've got to be pretty good, because our team's not very good and we just led the NCAA in punting."
As a fifth-year senior, Morstead was billed as a top prospect for the 2009 NFL Draft.
"The summer before my fifth year in college, I found out that I was the No. 1 ranked punter on the Blesto scouting reports for the NFL," said Morstead.
The Saints made Morstead the No. 164 overall selection that following April.
As a rookie, he won the punting job and also handled kickoffs, which would prove to be of great importance during Super Bowl XLIV.
Trailing Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts at halftime, Morstead and the Saints started the third quarter by successfully executing an onsides kick.
"The actual play I kind of blacked out," said Morstead, who credits "a lot of heroes" for pulling off the surprise kickoff attempt. "Tremendous amount of pressure. It's given me a level of confidence throughout my career that I can get it done in the biggest moments."
From college walk-on to Super Bowl champion in five years, Morstead proceeded to engineer a lengthy, rewarding tenure in the ultra-competitive NFL.
"It's been kind of a Cinderella story. I've been very fortunate, very grateful," said Morstead. "But, at the same time, I don't think anybody's worked as hard as I have. I've consistently demonstrated the effort to find ways to get better and that's why I'm still playing today."
Thomas Morstead (6) with his Saints teammates at the 2013 Pro Bowl
© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
That lunch-pail mentality helped him break back into the league after the Saints cut him following the 2020 season.
"Nobody really wanted me. I looked kind of washed up on film," said Morstead.
Even after 12 fruitful years, the aging punter wasn't ready to call it quits.
"I spent the whole offseason getting strong, getting healthy," said Morstead. "The fact that I'm back playing, and playing at a really high level, I don't think anybody thought that was the direction I was headed. I just had to prove it to myself that I wasn't done."
As it turns out, he wasn't done then, and, two years later, he's still not done.
"I'm tremendously excited to be there [with the Jets]," said Morstead again toward the end of the conversation from his New Orleans area residency. Expecting to have an "awesome experience together," he plans to move his family up to New Jersey for the season.
Speaking from experience, and the grizzled veteran has plenty of it, Morstead closed the interview with a message for his Jets' teammates.
"Just because we've got one of the greatest quarterbacks ever playing for the team doesn't guarantee us anything," said Morstead. "We've all got to go out and set the standard for ourselves and earn it."
For Morstead, that standard has remained the same from his time as an unrecruited SMU walk-on to the 14-year NFL veteran he is today.
It's Year 15 and it's still all about elite consistency.
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