In our continuing series on the Packers All-Quarter Century Team, we’re down to the last few spots!
We’re down to one last spot on our roster. A punt returner is often overlooked, but he can make a massive difference in field position and, if you’re lucky, you can find someone who can put points on the board all on his own.
The Green Bay Packers have a strong track record of success on punt returns over the past few decades, though the game-changing plays have been harder to come by in the very recent
past. Still, there are no shortage of exciting players to choose from for our All-Quarter Century Team, and the group of nominees includes true return specialists as well as star players on both sides of the football.
Help us decide on the top punt returner of the last 25 years below!
Punt Returner Nominees
Allen Rossum (2000-01)
Regular season: 40 attempts, 357 yards (8.9 average), 1 TD
Playoffs: 2 attempts, 41 yards (20.5 average)
A cornerback by trade, Rossum made his mark in the NFL as a return specialist, first with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1998 and ‘99. He signed with the Packers for the 2000 season and immediately took over duties on kickoff and punt returns. Rossum’s one punt return touchdown in Green Bay was a big one — he delivered a game-winning 55-yard score against the Buccaneers with just over 3 minutes remaining in week 8 of the 2001 season.
Rossum was sidelined with an injury midway through that year due to a knee injury, and he signed with Atlanta the following offseason. There he continued his impressive run as a return man for several more seasons, making a Pro Bowl in 2004.
Antonio Chatman (2003-05)
Regular season: 110 attempts, 903 yards (8.2 average), 1 TD
Playoffs: 10 attempts, 62 yards (6.2 average)
After a 2002 season that saw rookie wideout Javon Walker handle most of the kickoff return duties, the Packers signed Chatman out of the Arena Football League in the summer of 2003. He would handle punts for all three years in Green Bay while steadily expanding his role on offense; in fact, he was second on the team in receiving yards in 2005 behind only Donald Driver.
Chatman’s lone punt return score also came in 2005, when he scored from 85 yards out in a divisional game against the Chicago Bears. That helped the 2-12 Packers upset the 11-3 Bears on Christmas Day and was the longest punt return in the entire NFL that season.
Charles Woodson (2006-12)
Regular season: 75 attempts, 631 yards (8.4 average)
Playoffs: No PR attempts
It’s easy to forget that Woodson was the Packers’ primary punt returner in his first two seasons with the team. He rarely returned any punts or kicks for the Raiders prior to arriving in Green Bay, but his punt return acumen was part of what made him such a dangerous weapon for the Michigan Wolverines and contributed to his Heisman Trophy-winning campaign in 1997.
Will Blackmon (2006-09)
Regular season: 47 attempts, 515 yards (11.0 average), 3 TDs
Playoffs: No PR attempts
A 2006 4th-round pick, Blackmon started returning splitting punt return duties with Woodson in 2007 and was a dynamic weapon in that role in 2008 as well. He averaged better than 11 yards per attempt in both of those years, scoring once in 2007 and twice in 2008. Both scores in 2008 came against the Vikings, with the second giving the team a 24-21 lead that they would eventually give up in the fourth quarter of a 28-27 loss.
Tramon Williams (2007-14, 2018-19)
Regular season: 72 attempts, 662 yards (9.2 average), 1 TD
Playoffs: 9 attempts, 34 yards (3.8 average)
Signed as an undrafted rookie in 2006, Williams became a special teams weapon in 2007, spelling Woodson and Blackmon on a handful of occasions. His lone score on punts came that season, when he took a punt back 94 yards to the house in the first quarter of a midseason game against the Panthers.
Williams would pitch in as a punt returner in 2009 as well, then served as the team’s full-time punt return man in 2010, pulling double duty as a starting cornerback. He even had another 12 return attempts in 2018 during his reunion season with the Packers at age 35.
Randall Cobb (2011-18, 21-22)
Regular season: 94 attempts, 869 yards (9.2 average), 2 TDs
Playoffs: 6 attempts, 33 yards (5.5 average)
Although Cobb struck lightning with a kickoff return in his NFL debut, he also scored on a punt return in each of his first two seasons. His first put the Packers up 7-0 early on the Vikings in week 10, and his second helped close the gap with the 49ers in a week 1 game in 2012.
Micah Hyde (2013-16)
Regular season: 76 attempts, 738 yards (9.7 average), 3 TDs
Playoffs: 11 attempts, 119 yards (10.8 average), 1 fumble
A better punt returner than a kickoff returner, Hyde was a key option in that spot for all four years with the Packers, and was most impressive in his first two seasons. He is tied with Blackmon and Desmond Howard for the most punt return scores in franchise history.
Trevor Davis (2016-19)
Regular season: 40 attempts, 449 yards (11.2 average)
Playoffs: None
Davis ranks among the Packers’ all-time leaders in punt return average and although he never found the end zone, he had a couple of memorable plays. Perhaps his most notable was a 65-yard return against the Cleveland Browns in 2017. That play, which happened with under 3 minutes left in the game and with the Packers down by a touchdown, set up a tying touchdown and the Packers went on to win in overtime.
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