Last Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people tuned in to the Buccaneers’ first preseason game as Jameis Winston, the team’s No. 1 draft pick, took the field for his first NFL game. Quietly in the background, punter Karl Schmitz trotted out of the tunnel to play his first football game in nearly a decade.
Schmitz is as unlikely of an NFL story as they come, entering the league as a 28-year-old rookie having played one season of FCS football at the University of Jacksonville. Schmitz served as the team’s kickoff specialist, booting 11 kicks but never lining up for a punt.