In this series we will pick the best players from Clemson’s Modern Era (1990-present). This is the era following the Tigers’ great teams of the Danny Ford and Charlie Pell era. Some of the players on this list might be considered among Clemson’s all-time greats and you are sure to recognize a few, if not all, of the names on our list.
We continue our series today by looking at the punters on Clemson’s All-Modern Era Team. This list is comprised of one All-American and one All-ACC selection, but two of them are the only two punters or kickers drafted from Clemson in the last 25 years.
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First Team
Chris Gardocki (1988-’90): It can be argued that Gardocki is the greatest punter in Clemson history. Why? His numbers are comparable to some of the best in Clemson history, though he also served as the team’s starting placekicker and kickoff specialist as well. He was a two-time All-American as a kicker and was a three-time honorable mention All-American as a punter. In 1990, he finished fourth nationally in punting and tied for fourth in placekicking. It was the second straight year he finished in the top 10 nationally in both categories, the first player in NCAA history to do such. In 1989 he ranked sixth in field goals and 10th in punting. In his career, he averaged a Clemson record 43.5 yards per punt, including a career-best 44.5 yards in 1990. That also stands as a single-season record at Clemson. His career average from a net standpoint was over 39 yards. He had a career long 78-yard punt in 1990, which ranks third all-time in Clemson history. He also recorded punts of 66 and 63 yards. Gardocki left Clemson after his junior year and was drafted in the third round by the Indianapolis Colts. He spent 16 seasons in the NFL, tied for the longest playing career by a former Clemson player. His 244 games played in the NFL is the standard for a former Tiger. He was named All-Pro in 1996 and 2000, and played in the Pro Bowl in 1996. Gardocki was the starting punter for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl title run in 2005. Gardocki never had a punt blocked in his NFL career, the only punter in the league’s history that can make that claim. He was named to Clemson’s Centennial Team in 1996, was listed as the No. 19 best Clemson player of all-time by a panel of historians in 1999 and was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 2001.
Second Team
Bradley Pinion (2012-‘14): He never earned All-American or All-ACC honors, the price a punter pays when he plays with two of the best offensive teams in Clemson history. But if you were to ask each player from Clemson’s No. 1 ranked defensive unit in 2014, they would say Pinion deserves to be honored beside them. In 2014, Pinion pinned the football inside the 20-yard line a school record 28 times, forcing the opposition to have to drive the football more than 80 yards. In his two years as a starter, Pinion recorded 52 punts inside the 20-yard line, and amazingly he had just two touchbacks in those 26 games. In fact, those are the only touchbacks in his 140 career punts. Pinion’s career average of 41.0 yards per punt ranks seventh on Clemson’s all-time list, while his 40.3-yard net average in 2014 ranks as the sixth best mark for a single season in Clemson history. His longest punt was 60 yards, while recording 26 career-punts over 50 yards. Like Gardocki, he left Clemson after his junior year and was drafted in the fifth round by the San Francisco 49ers, the first punter or kicker drafted from Clemson since Gardocki.
Third Team
Dawson Zimmerman (2008-’11): Zimmerman was one of the more colorful players to come through Clemson. He was famous for his tweets, his blogs and for his interviews with the media. He was also a very good punter, too. In 2010, Zimmerman averaged 42.7 yards per punt and had a net average of 40.6 yards. That net averaged ranks third all-time in Clemson history for a single season. His career average of 41.1 yards per punt ranks sixth all-time at Clemson. He holds the Clemson single-game punting average mark at 51.5 yards against North Texas in 2010 as well as the single-game net punting average record of 51.0 yards in the same game. His 79-yard punt in that game is second all-time in Clemson history, while his 76-yard punt against Boston College later that same year ranks fourth on Clemson’s list of longest punts of all-time.