Why Raiders Legend Shane Lechler Will Be a Hall of Famer
By Keith Ricci
Lechler's stats do not lie
He averaged 47.6 yards per punt throughout his 18-season career (13 seasons in Oakland, and the final 5 seasons in Houston), which is the most in NFL history amongst retired punters. This average is incredible when you consider he played the 3rd most games of any punter ever – meaning he was consistently the best punter from his rookie year until his final season.
He is a 4-time punt yardage champion and a 5-time punt average champion. Eleven times he finished a season in the top 2 for yards per punt.
Known for his booming leg, Lechler had a 50+ yard punt in 33 straight games, which the longest streak in modern NFL history. In 14 of his 18 seasons, his longest punt was top 10 in the NFL that year. In a game in 2011, Lechler crushed an 80-yard punt over Devin Hester’s head at the Oakland Coliseum. That punt is still a Raiders franchise record.
Even in his final season, the 41-year-old led the entire NFL in punt yards. His NFL record of 8,433 career punting yards may never be broken.