41 Facts About Johnny Hekker

1.

Johnny Hekker played college football at Oregon State and was signed by the St Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2012.

2.

Johnny Hekker holds the NFL record for longest punt in Super Bowl history, with a 65-yarder that he delivered in Super Bowl LIII.

3.

Johnny Hekker attended Bothell High School in Bothell, Washington, and graduated in 2008.

4.

Johnny Hekker was the starting quarterback and punter of the Cougars football team during his senior year, leading them to a State Championship game, which they lost.

5.

Johnny Hekker briefly played basketball for the school in his senior year.

6.

Johnny Hekker played for the Oregon State Beavers football team while attending Oregon State University.

7.

Johnny Hekker was a four-year starter and finished his college career as one of Oregon State's most prolific punters.

8.

Johnny Hekker ranked third-best in career-punt yardage in school history with a solid 41.3 yards average per punt.

9.

Johnny Hekker earned Pac-12 Conference Honorable Mention with 87 career punts downed inside the 20-yard line in 2011.

10.

Johnny Hekker had at least one punt of 50+ yards in every game but one in 2010.

11.

For three years, Johnny Hekker worked as the holder on placekicks.

12.

In 2012, Johnny Hekker was signed as an undrafted free agent with the St Louis Rams.

13.

Two weeks later against the Seattle Seahawks, Johnny Hekker threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Danny Amendola on a fake field goal.

14.

Johnny Hekker became the first Rams punter to throw a touchdown pass since the AFL-NFL merger.

15.

Johnny Hekker recorded seven punts for 398 yards in the game, placing three of his punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

16.

Johnny Hekker was again nominated for Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week.

17.

Johnny Hekker was again nominated for Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week.

18.

Johnny Hekker finished his rookie season with 82 punts for 3,756 net yards for a 45.8 average.

19.

On December 29,2013, Johnny Hekker officially broke the single season record for net punt yards, previously held by Andy Lee in 2006 for the San Francisco 49ers.

20.

Johnny Hekker finished his second professional season with 78 punts for 3,609 net yards for a 46.27 average.

21.

Johnny Hekker earned Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro honors.

22.

On October 19,2014, Johnny Hekker threw a pass to running back Benny Cunningham on a fake punt with 1:14 left in a game against the Seattle Seahawks.

23.

On December 5,2014, Johnny Hekker agreed to a six-year, $18 million contract extension with $9 million guaranteed.

24.

Johnny Hekker's deal is the largest contract ever given to a punter.

25.

Johnny Hekker finished the 2014 season with 80 punts for 3,721 net yards for a 46.51 average.

26.

On December 27,2015, early in the second quarter of a game against the Seattle Seahawks, Johnny Hekker was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness for shoving Cliff Avril after a 45-yard punt.

27.

Later in the game, Johnny Hekker dropped to the ground when he thought Michael Bennett was going to hit him as retaliation.

28.

Bennett later said that Johnny Hekker acted "like a little girl" in a post game interview.

29.

Johnny Hekker was named to the Pro Bowl for his 2015 campaign.

30.

Johnny Hekker led the league in punts and punting yards with 96 and 4,601, respectively.

31.

In 2016, Johnny Hekker set NFL records for punts downed inside the 20, had only one touchback, and broke his own record for net punting yardage.

32.

Johnny Hekker was named to his third Pro Bowl and his third First-team All-Pro.

33.

Johnny Hekker finished the 2016 season with 98 punts for a league-leading 4,680 net yards for a 47.76 average.

34.

On September 11,2017, Johnny Hekker signed a two-year contract extension with the Rams through the 2022 season.

35.

Johnny Hekker finished the 2017 season with 65 punts for 3,113 net yards for a 47.89 average.

36.

Johnny Hekker missed Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors for the first time since 2014.

37.

Johnny Hekker was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade Team for the 2010s.

38.

In 2021, Johnny Hekker totaled 51 punts for 2,252 yards, with 23 of 51 punts being downed inside the opponent's own 20-yard line.

39.

On March 16,2022, Johnny Hekker was released by the Rams.

40.

On March 18,2022, Johnny Hekker signed a three-year, $7.6 million contract with the Carolina Panthers.

41.

For Season 2 of the Netflix cooking show Nailed It, Johnny Hekker was a guest judge.