Jeremy D. Kapinos (born August 23, 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 with ...

punter. He was first signed by the

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

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 2007. 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 ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

. Kapinos also played for 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 ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

and

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

Early years

Born an

Army brat A military brat (colloquial or military slang) is a child of serving or retired military personnel. Military brats are associated with a unique subcultureDavid C. Pollock, Ruth E. van Reken. ''Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds'', Revis ...

, Kapinos moved from city to city before his family settled in

Springfield, Virginia Springfield is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The Springfield CDP is recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 30,484 as of the 2010 census. Homes and businesses in bordering CDPs includ ...

. He was named All-Met while at

West Springfield High School (Virginia) West Springfield High School is a public high school located in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, at 6100 Rolling Road, and is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system. West Springfield (often referred to as WSHS) enrolls student ...

, in

, where his coach was former

punter

Bill Renner William Arthur Renner, Jr. (born May 23, 1959) is a former punter in the National Football League who played for the Green Bay Packers. Renner played collegiate ball for Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Ins ...

College career

Kapinos was a

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 Foo ...

finalist and a third-team All-American selection by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

while playing

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

. He is the

Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

' all-time leader in punting yardage.

Professional career

New York Jets

Kapinos signed as an

with the

following the 2007 NFL draft on July 2 but was released during the preseason on August 2. On November 27, Kapinos was re-signed to the Jets'

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was promoted to the active roster on December 22 when wide receiver

Laveranues Coles Laveranues Leon Coles (; born December 29, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the New York Jets. He played college football for ...

was placed on injured reserve. He saw his first regular season action that week against the Titans, punting five times for 208 yards, including two punts inside the 20. Kapinos was then placed on the inactive list for the last game of the season. After a well-publicized 2008 offseason competition with Ben Graham, the Jets released him on June 10, 2008.

Green Bay Packers

Kapinos signed a two-year deal with the

on December 3, 2008, to replace released punter

Derrick Frost Derrick E. Frost (born November 25, 1980) is a former American football punter. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He played college football at Northern Iowa. Frost has been a member of the Baltimore ...

. He averaged 34.5 yards on 8 punts, with 3 inside the 20, in the Packers' week 14 loss to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Kapinos won the preseason competition with

Durant Brooks Durant Stiles Brooks (born April 15, 1985) is a former American football Punter (American football), punter. He was drafted by Washington Redskins in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets ...

to become the Packers' regular season punter for the

2009 NFL season The 2009 NFL season was the 90th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL). The 50th anniversary of the original eight charter members of the American Football League was celebrated during this season. The preseason started ...

after leading the NFL in preseason in net punting yardage. Kapinos was also pressed into service Week 17 as the Packers' holder following a string of bad kicks by

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

Mason Crosby Mason Walker Crosby (born September 3, 1984) is an American football placekicker for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Colorado, and earned unanimous All-American honors. The Packers chos ...

in previous games. According to the Green Bay Packers website, Kapinos did not receive a qualifying offer to retain his position as their starting punter for the 2010 NFL season. In late September 2010, the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

brought Kapinos in to mimic the left-footed punters they would face in the coming weeks: Tampa Bay's Chris Bryan, Cincinnati's Kevin Huber, and Arizona's Ben Graham.

Indianapolis Colts

On October 25, 2010, the

signed Kapinos to replace the team's regular punter, Pat McAfee, who was serving a one-game suspension for his October 20 arrest for public intoxication. Kapinos was waived on November 3 after McAfee was reinstated.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On December 7, 2010, he was signed by the Steelers to replace the injured

Daniel Sepulveda Daniel Wade Sepulveda (born January 12, 1984) is a former American football punter who played five seasons in the National Football League (NFL), all with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football for Baylor University, earned All- ...

, who tore the ACL in his non-kicking leg. Kapinos was going to wear the number 3, which had been worn earlier in the season by longtime kicker Jeff Reed prior to his release, but eventually decided to wear number 13 instead, being the first Steeler to don that number since quarterback

Bill Mackrides William Mackrides (July 8, 1925 – January 22, 2019) was an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He helped the Eagles win the 1948 NFL Championship Game, 1948 and 1949 NFL Championship Game ...

wore it last in 1954. Kapinos punted in

Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champi ...

as a Steeler, setting a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

record for average punting yardage (3 for 51 avg). The Steelers lost the Super Bowl to the Green Bay Packers by a score of 31–25. He was released at the end of the 2011 preseason after a position battle with a once-again healthy Sepulveda. Kapinos re-joined the Steelers prior to Week 9 of the

2011 NFL season The 2011 NFL season was the 92nd regular season of the National Football League and the 46th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Thursday, September 8, 2011, with the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay defeating the Super Bowl XLIV champion New ...

after Sepulveda was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

for the season. The team signed him to a one-year contract that

offseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

, offering Kapinos an exclusive rights

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 ...

tender on February 22, 2012. He signed the tender on April 16, 2012. Kapinos was waived/injured during final cuts on August 31, 2012, after being unable to punt due to an injury.

Free agency

Kapinos was a one-week

addition for the Steelers as they prepared for fellow left-footed punter Sepulveda.

Personal life

Kapinos earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Recreation, Park and Tourism Management from Penn State in 2006. He is an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

. Kapinos' father David, a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

, played football at

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. Although his surname sounds

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, Kapinos is actually of Polish descent—although he does admit a penchant for

Greek cuisine Greek cuisine (Greek: Ελληνική Κουζίνα) is the cuisine of Greece and the Greek diaspora. In common with many other cuisines of the Mediterranean, it is founded on the triad of wheat, olive oil, and wine. It uses vegetables, oli ...

. Kapinos joined Packers

and

long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point attempt ...

Brett Goode Brett Jackson Goode (born November 2, 1984) is an American football long snapper. He played college football at Arkansas. Goode was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He has also played for the Green Bay Pack ...

to kick footballs into the stands during the pre-race "kick off" of the 2009 A.J. Foyt 225

IRL IRL may refer to: Places * Republic of Ireland (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code) * Irlam railway station (National Rail station code IRL), England Organizations * International Rugby League, the governing body for the sport of rugby league * I ...

race at the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectator ...

on May 31, 2009.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bioNew York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapinos, Jeremy 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Fairfax County, Virginia American football punters Penn State Nittany Lions football players New York Jets players Green Bay Packers players Indianapolis Colts players Pittsburgh Steelers players BC Lions players People from Highlands, New York Sportspeople from Orange County, New York