Cleveland Browns: Meet Your New/Old Punter, Brad Maynard.

In 1998, with Chris Chandler unable to play, Steve DeBerg became the oldest quarterback to ever start a NFL game when he captained the Super-Bowl bound Atlanta Falcons against the Jets. Steve got so much attention for this feat that I heard him joke, “My name seems to have been permanently changed to “44-year-old Steve DeBerg.”

Brad Maynard may not be quite that old, but at 37 he’s unarguably a senior statesman–even if he is a punter. Particularly on a team starting this many rookies and second year players. This member of the Ball State Hall of Fame (wow?) was one of the highest drafted kickers in NFL history, going in the third round to the Giants in–wait for it–1997.

He went to 'Da Bears' as a free agent where he was a Second City hit on the field and on the radio. Some say too much of a hit for his ST coach, Dave Toub. According to Brad, a couple of years ago Toub started ordering him to punt in certain directions, despite Maynard's own preferences. Kind of odd when you're coaching a player renowned as one of the premiere directional punters ever to pooch a football. Hmmm. The end result was that 2010 was Mr. Maynard’s last season at Soldier Field. The Bears replaced him with Richmond McGee.

Maynard was a Texan for a few weeks this summer before Houston decided on undrafted free agent Brett Harmann, who has averaged 47 yards per with a long of (and no, it’s not a typo) 69 yards. Guess that wasn’t too bad a choice.

Ironically, the aforementioned McGee ended up as a 2010 Brown who promptly got injured in Week 1. Which brings us full circle to the arrival of Brad in Cleveland. That should make all of you synchronicity fans happy.

And for stat addicts, Brad has punted for 52,940 career yards. Known in earlier times for trick plays, he once threw a 27-yard TD pass to Brian Urlacher, helping the Bears to the playoffs in 2001. In case you’re worried about the Browns' offense, he has a lifetime pass completion percentage of 62.5 with 5 of 8 passes going for 144 yards. Oddly, that’s his lifetime rushing average too. Plus, he’s reputed to be a heck of a holder. Wow, the guy is a one-man offensive Juggernaut!

Maynard set a NFL record for the most punts in a Super Bowl while with the Giants in 2000-2001. Well, that explains a lot.

Last year, Maynard landed 24 kicks inside the opponents’ red zone. At the end of Week 2, Brad was 10^th in the NFL in net yards and 8^th in punts inside the 20. The rumor out of Chicago was that Toub thought Maynard was too old to kick in cold weather. I guess we’ll find out.

But it is interesting that the Chicago Sun-Times ran an article this week calling Maynard the “Ex-Bear of the Week” and praising his performance in Week 2. I find that weird from a city that let coaches basically kick him out. Does that seem weird to you?

For those of us who like to know all about our players, native Hoosier Brad is married to Karen and they have two sons and a daughter. He’s been known to appear at numerous team charity events (including a kickball challenge in Chicago with Robbie Gould – how fun does that sound?) 

In January 2007, Brad Maynard was voted the sexiest Bear. Really? "I don't know what's sexy about being married with three kids and balding. It's not the status. It's not the checkbook because mine's not the biggest. It must be personality."

Well, it definitely isn’t your official team photo. Dude, you have to do something:  it makes you look like a serial killer.

Now it’s up to everyone in the Dawg Pound to make Brad feel welcome. Apparently this is important to him. He tells the story of how a backup TE was the teammate who finally made him feel a part of the Bears by talking to him on a plane ride back to Chicago. According to Karen he tells the story a lot. Like at every family gathering and party. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s too.

So be nice, Cleveland.