Brian Donald Moorman (born February 5, 1976) is an American former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

punter in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

Pittsburg State University Pittsburg State University (Pitt State or PSU) is a public university in Pittsburg, Kansas. It enrolls approximately 7,400 students (6,000 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students) and is a member of the Kansas Board of Regents. History P ...

, and was signed by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1999 and played for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

from 2001 to 2012, to which he returned after a one-year absence in 2013. He also played for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

in 2012. Moorman is a two-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection and was voted into the Buffalo Bills' 50th Anniversary Team. He is the founder of th
P.U.N.T. Foundation
which supports children in Western New York who face life-threatening illnesses.

Early years

At Sedgwick High School in

Sedgwick, Kansas Sedgwick is a city in Harvey and Sedgwick counties in the State of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,603. History For millennia, the land now known as Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans. In 1803, most o ...

, Moorman

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

, track, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. In track, he was a three-time state hurdle champion and received all-state honors in Football and Baseball.

College career

Moorman became the first four-time All-American football player in

history. He earned first-team NCAA Division II All-America honors as a punter in each of his final two collegiate seasons (1997–98) after earning honorable mention All-America honors his first two years (1995–96). Moorman still holds the school's career punting record (43.97 ypp) and he was named to PSU's prestigious 100th Anniversary Football Team in 2003.

Track and field

Moorman earned All-America honors on 10 occasions, including three straight NCAA Division II national championships in the 400 meter hurdles (1997–99). He also claimed eight conference individual event titles. Moorman also still holds the Pittsburg State University school record in the 110 meter hurdles (13.81) and ranks second all-time at PSU in the 400m hurdles (49.77).

Personal bests

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Moorman signed with the

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

during the summer of 2001. Moorman was named to the starting squad of the 2006 Pro Bowl for the second consecutive year. Moorman also made the 2007 Pro Bowl in which during the game he was most remembered for getting hit hard by the late

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

Sean Taylor Sean Michael Maurice Taylor (April 1, 1983 – November 27, 2007) was an American football safety for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected fifth overall in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Redskins, where h ...

, a play which is considered one of Taylor's most memorable plays before his tragic death. On July 2, 2007, the

rewarded Moorman with a 10 million dollar contract extension (through 2012), making him the second-highest paid punter in the league, behind Shane Lechler. In a 2008 34-10 opening day victory over the

, Moorman lined up to hold for what looked like a routine

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

attempt by placekicker

Rian Lindell Rian David Lindell (born January 20, 1977) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League for the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played college football at Washington State. Early years ...

but instead took the ball and heaved a 19-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

strike to

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Ryan Denney. Moorman had a career average of 46.6 yards per punt. In 2009, he also had a new career high in total yards punting with 4192 yards. On September 25, 2012, the Bills released Moorman soon after the third regular season game. He was replaced by Shawn Powell.

Dallas Cowboys

On September 26, 2012, Moorman signed with the

to replace an injured Chris Jones. He played 12 games with the Cowboys for a total of 15 games played in the 2012 regular season.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Moorman signed with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

on April 30, 2013. He was waived during the preseason.

Return to the Buffalo Bills

Moorman re-signed with the

on October 6, 2013, after the release of Shawn Powell. He was released August 29, 2014.

Retirement

Following his second release from the Bills, he announced his retirement through a letter to the city of Buffalo. Despite 14 years of professional football, Moorman never played a single postseason game, making him the only member of the NFL's 2000 All-Decade team to never play in a playoff game.

Awards

References

External links

*
Buffalo Bills bio

Brian Moorman's P.U.N.T. Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moorman, Brian 1976 births Living people People from Sedgwick, Kansas Players of American football from Wichita, Kansas American football punters Pittsburg State Gorillas football players Berlin Thunder players Seattle Seahawks players Buffalo Bills players Dallas Cowboys players Pittsburgh Steelers players American Conference Pro Bowl players