John Jett (born November 11, 1968) 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 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 ...

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 divi ...

and the Detroit Lions. He played college football for East Carolina University. Jett won two

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

s with the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVIII and Super Bowl XXX.

Early years

Jett attended Northumberland High School where he played football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, receiving All-State honors as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. Although Jett came to East Carolina University as an unrecruited walk-on athlete, he became a 4-year starter at Punter. He graduated after recording two of the three best single season averages in school history, setting the records for career punting average (40.0) and yards-per-punt average in a season (42.2). In 2007, he was inducted into the East Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Jett was signed 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 ...

by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

in 1992 and was released before the start of the season.

Dallas Cowboys

On March 10,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, he was signed by the

and replaced

Mike Saxon Michael Eric Saxon (born July 10, 1962) is a former American football punter in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at San Diego State University. He won Sup ...

on the defending Super Bowl champion. He finished the year with a 41.8 yards gross average, third in the NFC in net punting average (37.7) and led the league in percentage of punts downed inside the 20-yard line (39.3%). In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, he had a gross average of 41.9 yards (sixth in the NFC), led the league in percentage of punts downed inside the 20-yard line (37.1%) and his 26 punts that landed inside the 20-yard line were the third highest ever in franchise history. In the divisional playoff win against the Green Bay Packers, he registered the third best punting performance in Cowboys playoff history, with a 45.8 yard gross average. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, he had a gross average of 40.9 yards and a net average of 34.5. After a block, in the NFC Championship Game win against the Green Bay Packers, he went on to average 45.8 yards and tie the mark for the third highest punting average in the franchise postseason history, receiving NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. The next year, he was fourth in the NFC in net average (36.8 yards). During his time with the team, he led the NFL in punts inside the 20 yard-line for four straight seasons.

Detroit Lions

Jett was signed 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 ...

by the Detroit Lions in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, after the salary cap-strapped Cowboys could not afford to re-sign him. In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, he was named as an alternate to the

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 ...

. He missed three games with a calf injury in 2001. The next year, he was second in the NFC in net average (38 yards), sixth in gross average (42.2 yards) and third in punts inside the 20-yard line (29). On October 30, 2003, he was placed on the

injured reserve list 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 ...

, with what turned out to be a career-ending calf injury.Detroit punter Jett out for season
''ESPN''. October 29, 2003

References

External links

Mariucci Says Punter Jett 'definitely A Weapon'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jett, John 1968 births Living people American football punters East Carolina Pirates football players Dallas Cowboys players Detroit Lions players People from Northumberland County, Virginia Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia