Johnny Hekker and Kevin Huber are the two punter in Super Bowl 56 in Los Angeles and have spent their entire career with only one team. Both are looking back on an emotional 2021 season that they hope to cap with the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Munich/Los Angeles – No fan is happy when they step on the field. After all, a punter on the turf means the offense has failed. That they managed to gain so little space that not even a field goal attempt is possible.

It will be no different in Super Bowl 56 between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. Yet Johnny Hekker and Kevin Huber certainly deserve a little love.

The reason: they are among the absolute veterans of their teams. Both have never been active for another franchise.

Hekker has played for the Rams since 2012, when they were still based in St. Louis. He has been to the Pro Bowl four times. With an average annual salary of $3.762 million, he is the NFL’s highest-paid punter.

Huber has been with the Bengals even longer. He has been with the Ohio franchise since 2009. He has been to the Pro Bowl once (2013) and is relatively cheap with an annual salary of 1.637 million dollars. 22 players in his position group earn more.

Kevin Huber: A Cincinnati Boy

Huber is actually the ideal identification figure. He grew up in Cincinnati and says, “I’ve been a Bengals fan as long as I can remember.” The punter grew up with the “playoff curse” of this franchise. That’s because he was five years old when the Bengals won their last playoff game for the time being in the 1990 season.

31 years later, he was on the field himself when the drought ended. “I thought, so this is what it’s like to win a playoff game? This is that feeling that all the other teams get to feel? That was the most special night of my career.”

It is a twist of fate that Huber has been placed with his “heart club”. Unlike Hekker, he was drafted – and in the 5th round.

“Going into the draft, I knew I had a good chance of being selected. But usually only two or three punters are taken each year – and only a handful of teams may have a need or show interest. This year, one of those teams was the Bengals,” the 36-year-old recalled in a guest post on “theplayerstribune.com”.

Great successes failed to materialise in Cincinnati. What drove him on was the hope of improvement: “Every year after we lost, I tried to tell myself that next year would be different – that we would finally get it. And this year is really different.”

Huber also attributes this to quarterback Joe Burrow: “I’ve seen some talented quarterbacks here. But Joe has more than just talent. He has that X-factor,” the punter explains. “He just has that confidence that is very rare.” Just like Burrow, Huber now has to prove he can perform in the Super Bowl

Johnny Hekker and the longest punt in Super Bowl history

Hekker has already provided the proof. When the Rams faced the New England Patriots in the finals in February 2019 and their own offense failed to score a single touchdown, the punter was still practically among the bright spots. The 31-year-old set a Super Bowl record with a shot of 65 yards.

Nevertheless, he was controversial within the franchise. The low point: In Corey Bojorquez, he was given a rival in pre-season. “I realised that the team could go for him as well and I might have to find a new home soon,” Hekker tells.

The relief was all the greater when Bojorquez was traded to the Green Bay Packers a few days before the start of the season. “I’m thankful to feel wanted here,” Hekker said. “Every time I come to our practice facility, my goal is to be a good leader and a good player and just have a lot of fun doing it.”

To date, Hekker has not missed a single regular season game for the Rams. That brings his combined total to 166 appearances. It’s a similar story for Huber. In 13 years in the NFL, he’s only missed two games – for a total of 207 games.

Hekker and Huber experienced mixed 2021 seasons

Even though neither played an outstanding season in 2021. Hekker averaged 44.2 yards – the lowest of his career. Huber was better with an average of 46.4 yards, but still only finished 18th in the NFL rankings.

After all, the form curve of both kicking specialists showed an upward trend in the playoffs. Both players’ longest shot in the postseason flew over 58 yards each.

The rise in form should give hope to the respective teams. Because everyone knows: A good punter who can not only kick the egg far, but also ensures a long flight time can be a decisive factor in the Super Bowl.

And yet the fans would prefer it if they did not even enter the field.