Jason Baker

Jason Michael Baker (born May 17, 1978 in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American football punter for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League.

High school years
Baker attended Wayne High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana and lettered in football and baseball. In football, he won second team All-Conference honors as a senior.

College career
Baker played college football at the University of Iowa. When he graduated, he left as the Hawkeyes' all-time leader in punts and punting yards, with 272 punts for 11,304 yards. He was named special teams MVP of the 1997 Sun Bowl for his performance in Iowa's loss against Arizona State University, after registering eight punts for 391 yards. He also made honorable mention All-Big 10 honors as a senior in 2000. He majored in business administration.

Professional career
He was not drafted by any team, and was signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles in April 2001 before being waived a short while later, not having appeared in any regular season games for them. He was then picked up by the San Francisco 49ers, and was their regular punter during the 2001 NFL season. Unfortunately, he was released the next year, and signed again by the Eagles. He played several games for them before being released again at the end of the season. He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs before the 2003 season, and was their regular punter for the whole season, averaging a respectable 39.5 yards per punt. Baker then had a bizarre season in 2004. He was waived by Kansas City, then re-signed two weeks later, then waived a week after that. He was then picked up by the Indianapolis Colts, played with them for 5 weeks, then Indianapolis waived him and he was picked up by the Denver Broncos, who he finished the season with. He played for Denver in the AFC Wild Card game against his former team, Indianapolis. After the season, he was traded to the Carolina Panthers with a 2006 draft pick for Pro Bowl punter Todd Sauerbrun. Baker eventually won the punting job, after battling with Tom Rouen and Steve Cheek during training camp and the preseason. Has settled in nicely with the Panthers. Jason has set most of the franchise records and been alternate to the pro bowl multiple times in his 5 seasons but has yet to go. The Panthers rewarded him with a contract making him the highest paid punter in the NFL prior to the 2007 season. His stats are gross average 44.4, net average 38.2 and 125 punts inside the 20 during his 5 seasons in Charlotte. He is signed with the Panthers through 2012. Baker is one of the fastest running punters in the NFL. He managed to surprise the Seahawk's Leon Washington in a game on December 5, 2010, tripping up the prematurely celebrating Washington to save a touchdown.