Thomas Morstead is the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week 👏
📰 – https://t.co/zqGdNisC0E pic.twitter.com/RgcqkVGnFj
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) December 1, 2021
It didn’t take much time for Thomas Morstead to show the Atlanta Falcons how it’s done. The longtime New Orleans Saints punter went turncoat in signing with the dirty birds as a free agent, and he’s already earning accolades. Morstead was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 12, having punted excellently in the Falcons’ 21-14 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Asked to punt five times, Morstead responded by averaging 44.8 yards per try with a long of 55 yards. Three of his five punts landed inside the the Jacksonville 20-yard line and only one of those three possessions ended with points (on a 34-yard Jaguars field goal). Not too shabby for the 35-year-old.
It’s still unsettling to see Morstead wearing those numbers — to say nothing of such an ugly number — but good for him in continuing his career and playing at a high level once the Saints chose to part ways with him. The fact that he did such a great job preparing his replacement Blake Gillikin (October’s NFC Special Teams Player of the Month) is impressive on its own but speaks to his selflessness and team-first attitude.
Here’s to more success for Morstead. Just not when the Saints visit Atlanta to close out the regular season in Week 18.
