14 years into his NFL career, Miami Dolphins punter Thomas Morstead is accustomed to life as a professional football player.
The former SMU Mustang spent 12 seasons as a member of the New Orleans Saints, and his 2021 season was split between the New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons for seven games a piece. Still, last season, at 35 years old, he averaged 47.2 yards and 42 net yards per attempt.
Now, after signing a one-year deal this offseason worth $1.27 million, he’s coming to South Florida to play his home games at Hard Rock Stadium, where he once helped the Saints win a Super Bowl over the Indianapolis Colts as a rookie.
Luckily for both sides, a deal was rather easy to come by.
“I just made it clear what I was wanting to play for, and I don’t think they thought that was the case,” Morstead told me. “I made it clear that I didn’t want the finances to be an impediment to me coming here. I felt like the team has a good shot to have a good team. It’s a nice place to play, and to be a part of a new coaching staff that’s trying to build its identity and culture, I don’t know. There were just a lot of things about it that were exciting to me.”
During his limited time away from the football field, he spends as much time as he can with his family or working out. It’s that physical part of his game that helped him get to this level, and it’s not something he plans on stopping.
“Once I got into a college program four days a week, it kind of shocked my system,” Morstead said. “I guess I never trained like that…The ball started going farther and higher, and it just felt like a direct correlation. So I just keep after it…Obviously, I think it’s been a huge reason for my success.”
In a new system, 14 years into his career, Morstead is still looking at the challenges of the NFL the same way. He’s won a Super Bowl, been named a Second-team All-Pro and played in a Pro Bowl. What more is there to do as a professional punter?
“Well was like in my first for years,” he said. “I just love being part of it. We get very well compensated to play a kid’s game, and I just love doing all the aspects of what it takes to be great. It’s an awesome opportunity for me to demonstrate professional excellence for my kids. Their old enough where they kind of know what’s going on now which is really cool.
“I guess if I just look myself in the mirror one day and just don’t want to do it anymore, if I’m not excited about it, I’ll…
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