About ten weeks ago I made a joke in a column about how for my Thanksgiving week Defensive Spotlight, I had initially planned on featuring Houston Texans punter Tommy Townsend because if you tossed a pilgrim hat on top of his head, he'd look like he could've belonged at the very first Thanksgiving. I didn't write that Townsend feature because, well, he's a punter.
Putting Pat McAfee aside, I think it's fair to say that punters don't generally move the needle when it comes general fan interest, and frankly, McAfee really exploded after his playing career was over. Now whether Tommy Townsend will someday become the next former punter to transform into a sports media goliath remains to be seen, but for the sake of Houston Texans fans, his post-playing career ambitions are not nearly as important as his pending free agency decision.
Townsend is one of 20 Texans players who will be an unrestricted free agent this spring, and again, although Houston's eventual decisions on what to do with Joe Mixon, whether to extend Will Anderson Jr. and CJ Stroud, and how they should go about building defensive line depth will dominate the headlines, under the radar, Townsend's decision is worth keeping an eye on too.
One thing working in Houston's favor is that Townsend has already made it perfectly clear that he hopes to be back with the Texans next season.
“I would absolutely love to stay,” Townsend told Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston. “I think it’s pretty obvious. I’ve made it pretty obvious that I like it here. I want to be here for a while, so we’ll see how everything works out. I’ve got a good relationship with Nick, so there’s going to be a lot of communication, and I’m excited to see how it all plays out.”
Townsend was middle of the pack in terms of yards per punt (47.6) and net yards per punt (41.6), but the former Pro Bowler ranked 3rd in the NFL in punts downed inside the opponents 20 yard line (30). Since the start of the 2024 season, when Townsend arrived in Houston, he's had more punts downed inside of the opponents 20 yard line (69) than any other punter in the NFL.
Additionally, Townsend was the holder for one of the cleanest and most successful kicking operations in the NFL, an under the radar piece of Ka'imi Fairbairn tying the single-season NFL record for most field goals in a season.