Meet new Giants punter Brad Wing
Punter Brad Wing was traded to the New York Giants from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 4, 2015. Credit: AP
The Giants' punting game can now be summed in one phrase: a Wing and a prayer.
So who is Brad Wing, the 24-year-old punter the Giants acquired in a trade with the Steelers to replace Steve Weatherford?
Well, he's originally from Melbourne, Australia, and grew up playing Australian Rules Football before coming to the United States -- Baton Rouge, in particular -- as an exchange student in high school. He played one season of high school football while in Louisiana and then played collegiately at LSU (where he was a teammate of Odell Beckham Jr.'s and Rueben Randle's).
He was undrafted in 2013 and signed with the Eagles for their training camp before being waived at final cuts. The following season he was signed by the Steelers and became their punter and holder in 2014, punting 61 times with a 43.7-yard average and landing 20 inside the 20-yard line. His average of 8.2 yards per return ranked 12th in the NFL in 2014 while his net average of 38.8 was 20th. He also threw a two-point conversion to tight Matt Spaeth against the Ravens in Week 9.
Wing grew up on the other side of the world, but wasn't completely isolated from American football. His father, David, was an Australian Rules football player who also tried out for the Detroit Lions in 1990 and then punted for the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe in 1998.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
