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New Vikings punter Ryan Wright kicks bombs, Pat McAfee raves about him

Ryan Wright launched massive punts in Saturday's preseason game between the Vikings and Broncos.

Joe Nelson

New Vikings punter Ryan Wright kicks bombs, Pat McAfee raves about him
New Vikings punter Ryan Wright kicks bombs, Pat McAfee raves about him /

A week ago the Vikings said there would be a "punt-off" for the punting roster spot. Two days ago the Vikings cut Jordan Berry, scrapping the punt competition and handing the job to 6-foot-3, 245-pound rookie Ryan Wright. 

Hasty decision? Well, based on the bombs launched off Wright's right foot during Minnesota's preseason game in Denver Saturday night, not exactly. Wright was arguably the most popular player in yet another rather boring exhibition. 

In the second half, Wright sent a rocket off his foot that was downed at the Denver 2-yard-line. That's fine and dandy at first glance, but becomes shockingly awesome when you find out that the ball hit his foot at his own 19-yard-line. That's a 79-yard bomb, though he's only credited with a 68-yard punt because all the yards behind the line of scrimmage don't count. 

Wright later blasted a 71-yard punt that went for a touchback, so he was only credited with a 51-yarder. In short, when he kicks from his own 20 he's a threat to launch it about 80 yards. That would make Mitch Berger and the Snicker bar in his shoe jealous (that's a 1998 bit for those of you who don't know). 

Pat McAfee, the longtime NFL punter who is now one of the most popular sports talk show hosts in the world, referred to Wright as a "stallion."

Wright also had a 38-yarder that he dropped inside the 10. As of this writing the game was still in progress, but Wright had four punts on the night for a net average of 56.3 yards, including three of four inside the 20. 

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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen.  His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011.  Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play.  Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers.  Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17. 

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