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August 2, 2007

Colts’ kicking game is among the NFL’s elite

By David Hughes The Tribune Star Thu Aug 02, 2007, 11:43 PM EDT

TERRE HAUTE — Say you’re in the last round of your fantasy football draft and you’re trying to decide which NFL player should complete your roster.

You’re an Indianapolis Colts fan, but Peyton Manning obviously is long gone. So are Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Joseph Addai. Adam Vinatieri and Dallas Clark probably aren’t available to snag either.

You could blurt out “Hunter Smith,” but none of your buddies would take you seriously.

That’s unfortunate, considering Smith is one of the most consistent punters in the league.

“We don’t exist in fantasy football,” the ninth-year veteran said after Thursday’s special-teams-only practice at Rose-Hulman’s Cook Stadium.

Smith, who will turn 30 next Thursday, clearly exists among people who know NFL punting. Combined with place kicker Vinatieri, they make sure the Colts are covered in the foot department.

“They’re veteran guys, very professional in their preparation and their approach,” Indianapolis special-teams coach Russ Purnell said.

“Both of them are at the top of their game. One thing I don’t have to worry a lot about is the performance of our kicker and our punter. They’ve pretty much established themselves as being in the top echelon in the league, so that really saves me from getting a few gray hairs.”

Last season, when the Colts won the Super Bowl, Smith averaged 44.4 yards per attempt (with a net of 34.5 yards). Fourteen of his punts landed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.

“It was a really good season, I felt like,” Smith assessed. “Individually, I think I punted the ball very well. And I feel like this year we’re on track to have an even better year individually and team-wise as a punt unit.”

As preseason training camp approaches the end of its first week, Smith likes the attitude he’s seen from the Colts so far.

“Everybody has pretty much taken the approach that this is just another year,” he said. “There’s no championship to defend. We won the [2006] championship and it can’t be defended. All we can do is go on. There’s a new one to win and that’s what we’re going after — another championship in the next year.”

If that happens, Smith will be admired even more in his hometown of Sherman, Texas.

“It’s a real hometown sort of environment,” he explained. “They were very loving and very congratulatory of us for our win. I don’t think I get treated as a celebrity. But, for sure, they’re happy for me back there.”

Even though Purnell admitted that the starting positions of Smith and Vinatieri are probably as safe as they are for Manning, Harrison and Wayne, there are other foot specialists on the Colts’ camp roster.

One is 26-year-old placekicker Shane Andrus, who played collegiately at Murray State. He filled in for Vinatieri during the Colts’ night practice Wednesday, converting field goals from as far as 43 and 52 yards in team drills.

“He did a great job on his field goals,” Purnell said. “We did 16 live-rush field goals with different groups out there. He hit 13 out of the 16. One of them bounced off the upright… Everybody knows that if Adam’s resting, they can count on Shane to do the job.”

Andrus kicked for the Hamburg Sea Devils, who won the World Bowl in NFL Europa in June. His longest field goal for Hamburg traveled 47 yards.

“Right now, I have no idea,” said Andrus on his future. “I’m just coming out here and giving it my best shot and we’ll see what happens from there. I’m going to get a few preseason games and I’ll make the best out of that and hopefully land a job here, somewhere, who knows?

“I’m just out here doing my job.”

Indianapolis’ other camp punter is Reggie Hodges, formerly of Ball State. He previously was with the St. Louis Rams and Philadelphia Eagles, then played for the Colts in the 2006 preseason.

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