Daniel Sepulveda life and biography

Daniel Sepulveda is an American football punter for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Steelers in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Baylor.

PRO:
Signed his one-year contract tender on April 19, 2010…drafted in the fourth round (112th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft…suffered a season-ending knee injury during 2008 training camp…punted in all 16 games as a rookie and the AFC Wild Card Game (vs. Jacksonville)…was the recipient of the Joe Greene Great Performance Award in 2007, given annually to the Steelers’ top rookie.

2009 (16-0):
Averaged 42.7 yards per punt, and had a long of 60 yards…also had three special teams tackles…9/10 vs. Tennessee: Punted in his 17th career game…punted seven times for 299 yards (42.7 avg.) with a net of 40.7 and a long of 54…downed four punts inside the 20…9/20 at Chicago: Punted in his 18th career game…punted three times for 163 yards (54.3 avg.) with a net average of 49.7 and a long of 58…established single-game career highs in both punting average and net average…9/27 at Cincinnati: Punted in his 19th career game…punted twice for 85 yards (42.5 avg.) with a long of 51…10/4 vs. San Diego: Punted in his 20th career game…punted twice for 84 yards (42.0 avg.) with a long of 55...10/11 at Detroit: Punted in his 21st career game…punted four times for 194 yards (48.5 avg.) with a long of 51…10/18 vs. Cleveland: Punted in his 22nd career game…punted two times for 91 yards (45.4 avg.) with a long of 50…10/25 vs. Minnesota: Punted in his 23rd career game…punted six times for 248 yards (41.3 avg.) with a long of 45…11/9 at Denver: Punted in his 24th career game…punted five times for 221 yards (44.2 avg.) with a long of 55…recorded one tackle on special teams…11/15 vs. Cincinnati: Punted in his 25th career game…punted five times for 217 yards (43.4 avg.) with a long of 55…11/22 at Kansas City: Punted in his 26th career game…punted six times for 235 yards (39.2) with a long of 43...11/29 at Baltimore: Punted in his 27th career game…punted eight times for 357 yards (44.6 avg.) with a long of 58…recorded two tackles (one solo) on special teams…12/6 vs. Oakland: Punted in his 28th career game…punted three times for 130 yards (43.3 avg.) with a long of 53…12/10 at Cleveland: Punted in his 29th game…punted eight times for 342 yards (42.8 avg.) with a long of 60…12/20 vs. Green Bay: Punted in his 30th career game…punted five times for 191 yards (38.2 avg.) with a long of 45…12/27 vs. Baltimore: Punted in his 31st career game…punted four times for 146 yards (36.5 avg.) with a long of 41…1/3 at Miami: Punted in his 32nd career game…punted two times for 71 yards (35.5 avg.) with a long of 41.

2008 (0-0):
Missed the entire season after suffering a knee injury early in training camp and undergoing surgery...8/25: Placed on the Reserve/Injured List.

2007 (16-0/1-0):
Punted in all 16 games and the AFC Wild Card Game…named to Pro Football Weekly/PFWA All-Rookie Team…2008 recipient of the Joe Greene award as Steelers’ Rookie of the Year…made NFL debut in Week 1 win over Cleveland…punted 68 times for 2,880 yards (42.4 avg.)…had a net average of 37.9…had 28 punts downed inside the 20…punted a career-long 59-yarder in a Week 4 loss at Arizona…had a single-game high five punts downed inside the 20 in a Week 12 win over Miami…completed his first NFL pass attempt to Najeh Davenport in a Week 16 win over St. Louis (32 yards)…had one special teams tackle…punted four times for 177 yards (44.3 avg.) in the playoff loss to Jacksonville…also had a long of 48 yards and one punt downed inside the 20…9/9 at Cleveland: Had six punts with four landing inside the 20 yard-line and the other two not being returned…had a 45-yard long, while registering a 37.2 net avg...9/16 vs. Buffalo: Recorded one punt for 41 yards which was downed on the 7-yard line by William Gay...9/23 vs. San Francisco: Had two punts for 84 yards (42.0 avg.)…his longest punt of 47 yards was saved from going into the endzone by Bryant McFadden and then downed on the 8-yard line by James Harrison.

COLLEGE:
Was one of the most consistent punters in college football annals, so, it was only fitting that he became the first two-time winner of the Ray Guy Award, given to the top punter in the nation…Earned the award as a sophomore in 2004 and was selected again after the 2006 season…Is one of only the 13 players in NCAA Division I history to earn a major national award twice…He is the first to do so in non-consecutive seasons…His career punting average (45.24 yards per punt) is the best in the history of Division I football for players with at least 250 punts…He also established an NCAA record with 94 career punts of 50-plus yards…Holds the school and Big Twelve Conference career-record 277 punts, topping the old league mark of 268 by Shane Lechler of Texas A&M (1996-99)…His season averages of 45.97 yards in 2004 (eighth), 46.18 yards in 2005 (seventh) and 46.48 yards in 2006 (tied for third) are all listed on the Big Twelve Top Ten season-record chart…His career average of 45.24 yards rank second in conference annals behind Mark Mariscal of Colorado (46.4 avg., 2000-02)…Sepulveda's 277 punts for 12,531 yards broke the previous school career-records of 252 attempts for 10,339 yards by Ron Stowe (1979-82)…His 45.24-yard average topped the previous school all-time record of 43.44 yards on 170 tries by Buzzy Sawyer (1983-85)…Had 21 punts for 60 yards or longer, topping the previous Baylor record of 10 by Kyle Atteberry (1997-99)…His 93 punts for 50 yards or longer surpassed the old school record of 47 by Ron Stowe…His 87 punts in 2003 broke the school and Big Twelve season record…His average of 52.1 yards on nine punts vs. Kansas State in 2006 set a school game-record (minimum eight kicks). 2006: Earned All-American first-team honors from The NFL Draft Report, Associated Press, The Sporting News, Walter Camp, Football Writers Association and the American Football Coaches Association, becoming the school's first unanimous All-American since Santana Dotson in 1991…He is the only player nationally to earn unanimous All-America and first-team Academic All-America honors this season…The recipient of the Ray Guy Award for an unprecedented two times, Sepulveda almost did not make it to the football field for his final season…He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right (non-kicking) knee during a pick-up basketball game over the 2006 Easter holiday weekend, underwent successful surgery April 27 to repair the damage…Led the nation and set a school season-record with 66 punts for 3,068 yards (46.48 avg), as eight of his kicks were ruled touchbacks, 20 were downed inside the 20-yard line and 25 others gained at least 50 yards, including seven for 60 yards or longer…Opponents returned only 31 kicks, as the Bears ranked third nationally with a 39.01-net yard average…Had at least one punt downed inside the 20-yard line in 11 contests (none vs. Army). 2005: With a 3.46 cumulative grade-point average in accounting, the three-time first-team Academic All-Big Twelve Conference selection also earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, becoming just the third Baylor football player (and first since 1963) to earn both academic and athletic All-American accolades in the same season...Received second-team All-American recognition from The NFL Draft Report, Associated Press, The Sporting News and Rivals.com, third-team status from College Football News and honorable mention from Sports Illustrated...First-team All-Big Twelve choice by the Associated Press, ESPN.com, The Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman and San Antonio Express-News, adding second-team honors from the league's coaches, Kansas City Star, Houston Chronicle, Fort Worth Star- Telegram and Waco Tribune-Herald...Also named to the Express-News' Big 12 All-Decade second-team honor squad...Ranked third in the nation with a punting average of 46.18 yards, as he connected on 62 kicks for 2,863 yards, including 13 that were downed inside the 20-yard line…21.0 percent (13 of 62) of his punts pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line…Had 19 punts of 50-plus yards on the season, including six of 60 or more yards...Over the season's final three games he averaged 48.0 yards per punt with nine of his 23 kicks over that stretch registering 50-plus yards...Named Big Twelve Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance vs. Oklahoma State…Named to the fall Big Twelve Commissioner's Honor Roll...Played 127 snaps, all on special teams, as he recorded two solo tackles…Also served as the team's holder for placements and field goals for the third consecutive year. 2004: Captured the Ray Guy Award as college football's top punter and earned second-team All-American honors from both the Walter Camp Foundation and Rivals.com, third-team recognition from the Associated Press, College Football News and College Sports Report, adding honorable mention status from Sports Illustrated...First-team All-Big Twelve Conference choice by the league's coaches, the Associated Press and ESPN.com as well as six of seven newspapers around the league who select conference honor squads...Second-team CoSIDA Academic All- District VI selection...Earned first-team Academic All-Big Twelve honors and Baylor's special teams MVP award for the second-straight season...Named to the Big Twelve Commissioner's Honor Roll for both the fall and spring semesters...Served as special teams captain...Ranked second in the Big Twelve and third nationally with a 45.97-yard average on 62 punts, totaling 2,850 yards…26 of his kicks were downed inside the 20-yard line and 24 of his boots gained at least 50 yards…Opponents returned 23 kicks, as the Bears finished fifth in the nation with a 40.56-net yard average. 2003: Despite not having punted since junior high school, Sepulveda earned first-team All-Big Twelve Conference honors from College Football News and second-team recognition from the league's coaches...The redshirt freshman also was selected first-team Academic All-Big Twelve, earned a spot on The Sporting News freshman All-Big Twelve squad and was named to that publication's Dream Team...Honorable mention All-Big Twelve Conference pick by the Associated Press...Named Baylor's special teams MVP...Was a mid-year addition to the Ray Guy Award list, as he ranked third in the conference and 23rd nationally with his 43.10-yard average...His average ranked fifth nationally among all freshman punters and 23 of his punts pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line...Recorded a Baylor record 26 punts of 50 or more yards and had at least one such punt in every game…Finished with a Big Twelve season-record 87 punts, good for 3,750 yards, but saw four of his attempts blocked. 2002: Walked-on to the team and was redshirted as a true freshman, performing as an outside linebacker on the scout team...Selected to both the fall and spring Big Twelve Commissioner's Honor Roll.

PERSONAL:
Attended Highland Park (Dallas, Tex.) High School...battled through injuries while earning second-team academic All-State honors as a senior linebacker...National Honor Society member and competed on the school’s track team...earned Academic All-Big Twelve Conference honors four times and Academic All-American recognition three times...son of Susan and Carlos Sepulveda...Full name: Daniel Wade Sepulveda.

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