On April 27, the New Orleans Saints announced the signing of eleven undrafted free agents. Alabama punter James Burnip was among them.

Burnip was born in Mount Macedon, AU, and grew up playing Australian rules football. Learning to punt by training with ProKick Australia, he committed to Alabama in 2021 after initially committing to Ole Miss.

He ranks second all-time in school history (behind JK Scott) in yards per punt with 43.9, according to Alabama’s website. During his four years at Tuscaloosa, Burnip punted 203 times for 8,904 yards, ranking third all-time in Alabama history. In his final season, opponents averaged just one yard per punt return, which was the best in college football.

“Special teams are as big of a game as a quarterback throwing the ball,” Burnip said in an interview with 32BeatWriters. “If you don’t have a good punter, you’re not going to win a lot of games.”