UNI’s Sam Kuhter is not your ordinary punter

CEDAR FALLS - It's one of few things in the sport of football that can be easily taken for granted.

Their names and numbers are never more than a blip on the typical fan's radar unless something goes wrong.

It's safe to say you can group specialists - place-kickers and punters - in the same category as offensive linemen. Until you screw up, most fans are not going to know your name.

Fortunately for Northern Iowa, it has Sam Kuhter, a fifth-year senior punter who's working on a third consecutive season of all-conference level production.

Production that's made him a household name with Panthers fans and an NFL prospect.

To gain an even better perspective of the fanfare Kuhter has been able to garner, look no further than the annual team poster. Hardly any of Kuhter's punting peers in Division I football could point to their picture on the team poster.

Now, while Kuhter is aware of his standing among UNI fans, he's also well aware many football fans take punting and their punters for granted.

'Personally I'd like to think not, but I'm sure it is (taken for granted),” he said. 'It's kind of just an afterthought. I mean, it's fourth down, the offense didn't do as well as everyone hoped it would. In tight games, in situations where you need something like (a good punt), I'd like to think people really enjoy watching it. Or they really like to see a good punter out there on the field.”

The results have once again showed up for the former South Tama prep standout. Through three games, he's already launched seven punts in excess of 50-plus yards, and has landed 10 inside opponent's 20-yard line.

'I feel like personally I've been doing a lot better than I was last year through the first three games of the season,” Kuhter said. 'My biggest thing is taking it one day at a time. Working on fine tuning something at practice and every Saturday, just trusting the process and putting it all together when I have the chance.”

As a four-sport athlete at South Tama, he didn't decide until after his junior year to pursue a Division I football career as a punter. Whether it was on defense, offense or special teams, his dream was similar to many young men - play Division I football no matter the circumstances.

Once he knew punting was his path to college football, Kuhter attend a few punting showcases out of state and began to get noticed. But it wasn't until after the 2013 signing day that he ultimately ended up in Cedar Falls as a Panther.

'I saw they only had one punter on the roster, so I emailed a couple coaches and then I finally got a response from one of them,” Kuhter said. 'Then they had me up here on just a little unofficial visit for a couple hours. Then it was decide between (UNI) and two other schools and ultimately it came down to UNI. Both my parents went to UNI. My grandfather went to UNI. Some other family members went to UNI. So, I've always been a Panther and this just sealed the deal for it.”