Don Bracken
| No. 17 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Punter | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Date of birth: | February 16, 1962 | ||||||
| Place of birth: | Coalinga, California | ||||||
| Date of death: | October 29, 2014 (aged 52) | ||||||
| Place of death: | Billings, Montana | ||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 214 lb (97 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Thermopolis (WY) Hot Springs County | ||||||
| College: | Michigan | ||||||
| Undrafted: | 1984 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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| Punts: | 461 |
|---|---|
| Average punt: | 39.9 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Donald Craig "Don" Bracken (February 16, 1962 – October 29, 2014) was an American football punter.
After playing high school football in Thermopolis, Wyoming, Bracken played college football for the University of Michigan from 1980 to 1983. As a freshman, he set a Rose Bowl record that is still unbroken with a 73-yard punt in the 1981 Rose Bowl.
Bracken played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) for the Green Bay Packers (1985-1990) and Los Angeles Rams (1992-1993). In 1987, he ranked third in the NFL in both number of punts (72) and punting yardage (2,947). In eight NFL seasons, Bracken appeared in 99 NFL games and punted 461 times for 18,375 yards, an average of 39.9 yards per punt.
Don Bracken was born in Coalinga in Fresno County, California, in 1962. He moved with his family to Thermopolis, Wyoming, while in middle school. He attended Thermopolis High School where he was a member of the National Honor Society. He was also the punter for the school's football team, averaging 46.7 yards per punt.
Don Bracken enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1980. He was the punter for Bo Schembechler's Michigan Wolverines football team from 1980 to 1983. In his first appearance at Michigan Stadium, before a crowd more than 20 times larger than the population of his home town, Bracken's first punt traveled 47 yards. At the end of his freshman year, Bracken booted a Rose Bowl record 73-yard punt in the Wolverines' 23-6 victory over Washington in the 1981 Rose Bowl. In four years at Michigan, Bracken averaged 40.8 yards per punt, a school record that was later surpassed by Monte Robbins.
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