Towson University Athletics

Over the span of his career Sean Landeta set numerous records at both the college and professional football levels, establishing himself as one of the sport’s all-time leading punters.

During his four-year career he was Towson’s punter in all 41 games. He punted 225 times for 9,452 yards and a 42.0 average with a record long of 72 yards (since been broken). As a sophomore, junior and senior he was also Towson’s placekicker. During that period he converted 70 of 74 extra point attempts (.946). He kicked 26 field goals to combine with his conversions for 148 career points. On November 1, 1980 he kicked a record long 57-yard field goal. Up to that point it was the longest field goal by any high school, college or pro kicker in the state’s entire football history.

Named as Towson’s Senior Athlete of the Year in 1983, he was inducted into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005. He set Tiger Football records for career punts (225), yards (9,452) and average (42.0). His 44.7 average (61 punts for 2,729 yards) was a single season school record. A three-time (1980, 1981 and 1982) first team All-ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) selection. In 1980 he had the distinction of becoming the first NCAA college football player to lead the nation in punting (43.7) and placekicking (14 FG’s) in the same season. In 1982 he became the first punter ever to be named to the Associated Press’ College Division All-American team. He was also selected a Kodak AFCA Coaches first team All-America that same year.

In addition to his membership in the Towson Hall of Fame, Landeta was inducted into the NCAA Division II College Football Hall of Fame (2006), the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (2009), the Loch Raven High School Hall of Fame (2011) and the Maryland State Sports Hall of Fame (2011). In 2010 he became eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and appeared on that ballot for the first time. He was also named to ESPN's list of 50 All-Time Greatest New York Giants players. He was a three-time First Team All-Pro selection (1986,89,90), two-time Pro Bowl selection (1986,90), a member of ESPN’s 40^th Anniversary Super Bowl Team, picked to the NFL’s 1980’s (first team) and 1990’s (second team) All-Decade teams, the Philadelphia Eagles’ 75^th Anniversary team, the St. Louis Rams’ 20^th Anniversary Team and the USFL’s All-Time Team.

Landeta enjoyed a lengthy professional career that spanned almost a quarter-century, playing for five different NFL teams from 1985-2006. He retired as the longest tenured punter (22 seasons) in NFL history on March 6, 2008, the 25^th anniversary of his first United States Football League game. At the age of 21 he began a three-year career with the USFL’s Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars. He was twice named All-USFL punter and helped the Stars to two USFL championships. When the USFL folded he joined the New York Giants where he would spend almost half of his NFL career (nine seasons), winning two championship rings in Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV. He would become the last active NFL player who played in the USFL.

He also played for the Rams, Buccaneers, Packers and Eagles. He spent five seasons in Philadelphia and eventually became the oldest punter to ever appear in a NFL game at the age of 44. He led the NFL in punts with 107 (1999), gross punting with a 44.8 average (1994), net average with a 37.8 clip (1989) and punts inside the 20 (1990). Other career highlights included being the first punter in NFL history to average more than 50-yards per punt in a game in three different decades. He also recorded the longest punt in Tampa Bay history (74 yards). As a Packer he set a club record for the highest net punting average and most punts inside the 20 in team history. As a member of the Eagles, he set the NFL's all-time record for number of punts in a career, punting yardage and punts inside the 20 during the 2001 season. By the time he retired, he had amassed 1,401 punts for 60,707 yards (43.3 yards per punt average), with 381 punts inside the 20 and a 35.3 net average. His punts, punting yards, and punts landing inside the 20 were either first or second in NFL history at the time of his retirement.

Since the inception of his professional career, Landeta continued through retirement to stay involved with numerous charities including the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, Juvenile Diabetes, Boys and Girls Clubs, Autism Awareness and the Leukemia Society of America.