Daniel Wade Sepulveda (born January 12, 1984) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

punter who played five seasons 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), all with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football for

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

, earned All-American honors twice, and was twice recognized as the best college punter. The Steelers selected Sepulveda in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He was a member of the Steelers team which won

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

against the Arizona Cardinals.

Early life

Sepulveda who is of Mexican–American descent, was born in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. He attended Highland Park High School in metropolitan

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. Sepulveda was a fourth-string punter at Highland Park behind Ryan Wolcott (the kicker), Jason Wood (the backup), and Trey Warren (the starter). He never made it into a game as a punter.

College career

Sepulveda attended

, where he played for the

Baylor Bears football The Baylor Bears football team represents Baylor University in Division I FBS college football. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. After 64 seasons at the off-campus Baylor Stadium, renamed Floyd Casey Stadium in 1989, the Bears ope ...

team from 2002 to 2006. He was a walk-on to the football team as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

, and after a

redshirt freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

season (despite not having punted since

junior high A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

) became the Bears' starting punter, earning a scholarship after the 2003 season. He won the

Ray Guy Award The Ray Guy Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding punter as adjudged by the Augusta Sports Council. The award is named after punter Ray Guy, an All-American for Southern Mississippi and an All-Pro in the National F ...

tapping him as the best college punter in 2004 and 2006, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American in 2004 and a unanimous first-team All-American in 2006. He, Ryan Allen and Tom Hackett are the only players to win the Ray Guy Award twice. As of the end of the 2017 season, Sepulveda holds the

NCAA FBS The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

record for career punting average and career punts of 50+ yards.

Professional career

Sepulveda was drafted in the fourth round (112th pick) by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2007 NFL Draft. After the release of former starter Chris Gardocki, Sepulveda successfully bested Mike Barr for the starting job. Sepulveda signed a three-year contract for $1.46 million with the Steelers on May 31, 2007. In the first quarter of a December 20 game against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

, in his rookie season, Sepulveda completed a 32-yard pass to running back

Najeh Davenport Najeh Trenadious Monté Davenport (born February 8, 1979) is a former American football running back in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at ...

on a fake punt play. On July 29, 2008, Sepulveda tore the ACL in his right leg for the second time. He had surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament on August 6. He was placed on injured reserve by the Steelers after the surgery, officially ending his season. On December 5, 2010, he again injured his right knee in a game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Jeremy Kapinos Jeremy D. Kapinos (born August 23, 1984) is a former American football punter. He was first signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Penn State. Kapinos also played for the Pittsburgh Steeler ...

was signed to replace Sepulveda. On July 31, 2011, the Steelers re-signed Sepulveda to a 1-year deal. In the second quarter of an October 9, 2011 game against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

Sepulveda completed his second career pass for a first down, a 33-yard pass to Ryan Mundy on a fake punt play. It was announced on April 4, 2012 that Sepulveda would not return to the Steelers for the 2012 season.

Post-football career

Sepulveda enrolled at the SMU Dedman School of Law as part of its 2019 graduating class.

References

External links

Baylor Bears bio

Pittsburgh Steelers bio
\ {{DEFAULTSORT:Sepulveda, Daniel 1984 births Living people All-American college football players American football punters Baylor Bears football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Austin, Texas American sportspeople of Mexican descent