[bears9]

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – After winning the first NFC special teams player of the week award of his 11-year career Wednesday, Brad Maynard had a message for six-time winner Devin Hester.

“Ha ha, Devin,” joked Maynard, who was honored for his steady performance in last Sunday’s 35-7 rout of the Green Bay Packers at frigid Soldier Field.
Battling a wind that gusted up to 40 miles per hour, Maynard registered a 35-yard gross average and a 33-yard net average while landing one of four punts inside-the-20.
“Obviously, the conditions were bad,” Maynard said. “Deep down, I just feel like I did my job. I feel like I’ve had games like that a lot that my team notices that don’t get noticed nationally. But this time it did.”
Maynard conceded that the difficulties Packers counterpart Jon Ryan experienced throughout the game probably swayed those who vote for the player of the week award.
Ryan had two punts blocked—one of which was returned for a TD—lost 10 yards after fumbling a snap and had a 9-yard punt when he struck the ball with his lower leg instead of his foot.
The wind chill factor of 18 degrees below zero made Sunday’s contest the coldest Bears home game since at least 1963.
“We talked before the game about letting the wind die as much as possible, even taking a delay of game [penalty] if we had to, which the last punt we did,” Maynard said.
“We’re fortunate that our coaches let us do that. You don’t know what’s going to happen if you try to snap it when the wind’s blowing as bad as it was. I might miss the ball.”
Hester, meanwhile, was happy to learn that Maynard had won the award that the Pro Bowl return specialist has claimed so frequently during his first two NFL seasons.

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[Gotham Dark Knight]

A punter kicking into the wind wins the award...that's priceless...

[bears9]

Originally Posted by Gotham Dark Knight

A punter kicking into the wind wins the award...that's priceless...

This isn't the only time this has been, I remember posting more than once in the Iowa Forum how their punter brought home the Big Ten Specialist of the Week.