Paul T. Ernster (born January 26, 1982) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a punter in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(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

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks The NAU Lumberjacks are the varsity athletic teams representing Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona in intercollegiate athletics. The school's mascot was adopted in 1946. The Lumberjacks compete in NCAA Division I and are full membe ...

and was selected by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in the seventh round of the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

. Ernster also was a member of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

Early life

Ernster was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. He attended

Ironwood High School Ironwood High School is a public secondary school located in Glendale, Arizona, United States, part of the Peoria Unified School District. The school opened in August 1986 with its first graduating class in 1989. Since 2005, it has offered th ...

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...

, where he was a two-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

in both

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. In football, he was an All-State kicker, he won All-Region honors as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

, and punter, and was a two-time

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 ...

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

award winner, and was the Defensive MVP as a senior.

College career

Ernster attended

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...

, and was a kicker, until punting his senior year. As a senior punter, he led the

NCAA 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. ...

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

level, and the nation in average yards per punt, averaging 47.8 yards per punt. During his career at Northern Arizona University, he was a three-time All-

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

All-Academics selection, a consensus

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 ...

punter pick as a senior, and he finished his college career with 213 points, which ranks third in school history. As a kicker, he made 39 out of 65 field goal attempts, and 96 out of 100 PATs attempted.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

Ernster was selected by the Denver Broncos in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He was their punter for two years, and was documented in '' A Few Seconds of Panic''. After replacing

Todd Sauerbrun Todd Scott Sauerbrun (; born January 4, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers, and was reco ...

in 2006, Ernster led the NFL in kickoff distance and was third in touchbacks. However, out of 32 punters with at least 40 punts, Ernster finished 28th with a gross average of 41.7 yards.

Detroit Lions

On April 11, 2008, Ernster was signed by the

. He was waived on July 29.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Ernster was claimed off waivers by the

on July 29, 2008, after punter

Daniel Sepulveda Daniel Wade Sepulveda (born January 12, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a punter for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL), all with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football for the Bayl ...

tore his ACL. However, he was cut prior to the regular season. He was re-signed by the Steelers on November 5 after the team released punter Mitch Berger. The Steelers released Ernster and re-signed Berger on November 24 after Ernster turned in three below average performances, averaging just 31.3 yards a punt.

Career statistics

References

External links

Denver Broncos bio

Detroit Lions bioPittsburgh Steelers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ernster, Paul 1982 births Living people American football placekickers American football punters Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football players Denver Broncos players Cleveland Browns players Detroit Lions players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Phoenix, Arizona