It looks as if Brad Maynard picked the right time to change the way he does business. Not necessarily the way he punts, but the way he approaches his job.
“I kicked less in the off-season than I did last year,” Maynard said. “I didn’t think about it as much. I put a lot more time in last year kicking the ball.
“Sometimes when you just put it down in the off-season and step away for a while, you’re better off.”
Maynard picked a good off-season to re-energize his career. The Bears brought Brooks Barnard to training camp as his challenger for the second year in a row, a sign that a change might be in the wind. But Maynard is in the process of keeping his job.
“He’s punting very well,” special teams coach Dave Toub said. “He’s in a good state of mind now. We’re not kicking him too much. He’s in a zone right now, and I don’t want to mess it up.”
In 2003, Maynard had the worst season statistically of his three with the Bears, though not by much. He averaged 41.2 yards per punt, and his net average was down to 34.6, second-lowest of his seven NFL seasons.
Overall, those are middle-of-the-pack stats by NFL standards, but Maynard would like to get back to his form of 2002, when his net average of 37.4 set a Bears’ record.
So far, he likes his progress.
“I’m probably having the best camp of my career,” he said.
And if that carries over into the season, he can thank a rival. When the Bears practiced with the St. Louis Rams Aug 5-7 in Macomb, Ill., he picked the brain of the Rams’ Sean Landeta, who’s heading into his 23rd professional season.
“I picked up a lot from him just watching him,” Maynard said. “He kicks the same every time, whether he’s warming up or kicking a pooch punt from the 50-yard line or when he’s backed up in the end zone.
“I’ve tried to take that away from him. I took it into the game and had a good game.”
Maynard averaged 47.3 yards on three punts in last week’s exhibition opener against the Rams in the Edward Jones Dome. Barnard averaged 43.7 on three kicks.
Maynard seems destined to stay in Chicago, and whatever chance Barnard had of unseating him may have died during his stint in NFL Europe. Barnard averaged 37.8 yards per punt for the Rhein Fire, and the Bears hoped he would also learn to kick off. But he never kicked off.
“It didn’t pan out,” Barnard said.
“He tried, but it’s really hard being a punter and a kickoff guy because it’s two different leg swings,” Toub said.
Barnard had one other flirtation with kicking off as a senior at Maryland in 2002, but he broke his ankle two days before the opener against Notre Dame.
“I still played,” Barnard said. “It was a very painful experience, but I couldn’t kick off. I was a senior, a captain, I thought it was my duty to punt.”
As was the case a year ago, Barnard is auditioning for other teams. After the Bears cut him before last season, he was out of work until he got a call from, of all teams, the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. Punter Ken Walter was struggling, and the Patriots released him before a pivotal Dec. 12 home game against AFC East rival Miami.
Barnard responded by averaging 36.5 yards on 10 punts in the snow, burying Miami inside its 20 four times. The Patriots were leading only 3-0 in the fourth quarter when Barnard punted out of bounds at the Dolphins’ 4. On the next play, Tedy Bruschi intercepted Jay Fiedler and returned it five yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead. The Patriots won 12-0 to clinch the AFC East.
But after the game the Patriots brought back Walter and cut Barnard, who re-signed with the Bears three days later.
“I had one day of practice and it was only one game, but I have that game experience,” Barnard said. “It was a playoff atmosphere, it was for the division title and it was against Miami.”
For Barnard, memories like that may have to do for a while.
