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Ty Long named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week

One career game, one player of the week award

NFL: Preseason-Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Chargers Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Tom Telesco and his staff brought in Ty Long this offseason because they needed a new punter. With the preponderance of kicking issues the team has experienced over the last few seasons, the front office was attracted to Long’s ability to both punt (48.3 yards per punt average on 236 punts) and kick (88.2% on 93 attempts with a long of 52).

When starting kicker Michael Badgley tweaked his groin in practice 3 days before gameday, the Chargers made the decision to put Ty Long’s versatility to the test, entrusting kickoff, punting, and place kicking duties all to the former CFL player in his first NFL game.

How did that work out for the Chargers?

Pretty well I’d say!

Long said that he was so nervous before the game that he almost puked multiple times. However, once the game started, he was in the zone. Long converted all 3 extra point attempts, was officially 1/1 on FGs with a 40 yarder, although the 22 yard kick he had that got negated by a penalty was also good, and had 2 punts with a 49 yard average.

It was a fantastic debut for Ty Long and the front office, coaching staff, teammates, and Long himself can now be extremely confident in his abilities to fill in.

Also need to include some props here for Tyrod Taylor who had never been a holder on kicks in a game in his career and was perfect for all 5 kicks that Long attempted.