Pearland's Thomas Morstead named to NFL Pro Bowl

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Thomas Morstead

PEARLAND — The New Orleans Saints drafted former Pearland kicker/punter in the fifth round in 2009. In the three years he has played for the Saints on its special teams he has had a gross average of 45.8 yards for 161 punts and has been only the second Saints player in club history to receive NFC Special Teams Player of the Week twice – and the first to do so in the same season. He also holds the record for the most touchbacks in one game: nine. His longest kick is 64 yards.

But what Morstead is probably best-known for is an onside kick. It was in the Super Bowl XLIV when the Saints played against the Indianapolis Colts. It was also his first year as a Saint. For the second-half kickoff, Morstead did an onside kick with the Saints, recovering the ball, converting the possession into a touchdown and gaining the lead. It was a crucial play, and the Saints won the Super Bowl.

Morstead was signed to a 21.9 six-year contract extention to begin the 2012 season and is an important part of the overall team success for the Saints.

Morstead, who played at SMU, was recently named to the 2013 Pro Bowl which is a first time honor. He leads the NFL in gross (50.5) and net (44.4) punting yard average.

This season, he established the NFL’s single-season record for best net average, which was set in 2011 by San Francisco’s Andy Lee with an average of 43.99.

Off the field, he’s also involved with PuntPink.com, which he founded to raise money for breast cancer research (his mother is a breast cancer survivor).

In 2011, he raffled off the pink shoes in which he made a record-breaking nine touchbacks in a game against the Indianapolis Colts. Also part of the package were on-field passes and tickets to a game against the New York Giants.

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