Jason Baker

Jason Michael Baker (born May 17, 1978 in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American football punter for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League.

High school 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 10 honors as a senior in 2000.

Pro career

Baker has been bounced around quite a bit in the NFL. 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 NFL 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 again a week after that. He was then picked up by the Indianapolis Colts, played with them for two 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.

External links

• Carolina Panthers bio