Steelers Punt Ernster, Return Berger

Patrick Obruba — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:46:49 -0500

Just when it seems the Steelers finally have a grip on special teams this year, another key aspect falls apart. The Steelers announced today that they have released Paul Ernster for his less-than-stellar punting.

With his average a pitiful 31.3 yards after twelve punts, he would not even rank in the top fifty among 2008 Bowl Subdivision punters through the 24th of November, 2008 (http://statistics.ncaafootball.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=ncaa-football&page=cfoot/stat/ncaa-punting.htm). One hopes that his re-tread replacement, Mitch Berger has healed well.

Of course, none of this would have been an issue had Daniel Sepulveda, the rare breed of drafted punter, hand't gone down for the season. The job is Sepulveda's to lose so at best, the Ernster-Berger show has been an extended job interview for a needy team next season.

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Steelers Punt Ernster, Return Berger