Austin McNamara (born February 24, 2001) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

punter for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

Early life

McNamara was born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, and grew up in

Gilbert, Arizona Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located southeast of Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Gilbert is home to 288,128 residents. It is the fifth-most populous municipality in Arizona and is considered a suburb of Phoenix. I ...

. He attended Highland High School in Arizona where he played basketball and football. A

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

and punter, he averaged 42 yards-per-punt, made 12

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

s and all 63 of his

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attempts as a

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, being named first-team all-state. Ranked as the best punter recruit nationally, McNamara committed to play

for the

College career

McNamara won the starting job at Texas Tech as a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

in 2019 and averaged 45.0 yards per punt, which was then fourth all-time in school history, second in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) that year among freshmen, and second in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. He was selected a Freshman

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and a first-team All-Big 12 player. The following year, McNamara played nine games and punted 41 times while averaging 46.3 yards per punt, then second all-time in Texas Tech history and fifth in the FBS; he was named first-team All-Big 12 again and second-team All-Texas by ''

Dave Campbell's Texas Football ''Dave Campbell's Texas Football'' is a biannual magazine previewing American football teams in the state of Texas. It previews football teams in Texas at all levels, from the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans, college football, to the ...

''. In a game against

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that season, he recorded a 87-yard punt which broke both the team and Big 12 records. In 2021, McNamara set both the Texas Tech and Big 12 all-time record with a 48.2 yard punting average while playing all 13 games, additionally setting an NCAA single-game record during the year for most 50-yard punts in a game. He was a second-team all-conference selection and was named first-team All-Texas by ''Dave Campbell's Texas Football'', also being named the best

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player in the state by the publication. McNamara totaled 50 punts and averaged 44.3 yards as a senior in 2022, being named third-team All-Big 12 by

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pro ...

and

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. He returned for a final season in 2023, having received an extra year of eligibility due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He averaged 46.3 yards per punt in his last year, being named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year, the first Texas Tech player to receive the honor, as well as first-team All-Big 12. He was one of two punters invited to play at the

2024 Senior Bowl The 2024 Senior Bowl was a college football all-star game played on February 3, 2024, at Hancock Whitney Stadium located in Mobile, Alabama. The game featured prospects for the upcoming 2024 draft of the professional National Football League (NF ...

, and the second Texas Tech punter all-time.

Professional career

After going unselected in the

2024 NFL draft The 2024 NFL draft was the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit on April 25–27, 2024. The draft had an attendanc ...

, McNamara was signed by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He was waived on August 7. On March 14, 2025, McNamara signed with the

References

External links

New York Jets bioTexas Tech Red Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Austin 2001 births Living people American football punters Players of American football from San Jose, California Players of American football from Gilbert, Arizona Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Cincinnati Bengals players New York Jets players