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Best foot forward Landeta looks forward to punting at Giants Stadium
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Sean Landeta has fond memories of Giants Stadium. Most punters have nightmares. Landeta, in his second season with the Philadelphia Eagles, spent the first nine years of his NFL career with the New York Giants. He survived the notorious winds at Giants Stadium, earned two trips to the Pro Bowl and established himself as one of the all-time best at the position. It wasn't easy dealing with the tough, swirling winds, though. "Numerous times after pregame, guys would come over to me and they'd be beside themselves," Landeta said. "They'd say, 'What do you do with this?' and I'd tell them, 'I'll let you know after the game.'" Landeta returns to the Meadowlands on Sunday when the Eagles (12-5) play the Giants (12-4) in the second-round of the playoffs. He admits that he's already looking at the forecast to see what the weather will be. "Punters and kickers who say they don't do that are lying," Landeta said. "I'm not afraid to say I've looked at it and it has a chance to be a pretty good day. What matters most is what's going on the 10 seconds you are out there. The winds can pick up, change direction, slow down." The forecast for Sunday is partly cloudy skies with highs in the mid-30s. Landeta, who turns 39 on Saturday, won two Super Bowls with the Giants and two championships with the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars of the old USFL. He played for St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Green Bay before joining the Eagles in 1999. Landeta has kicked in all conditions in nearly every stadium. "Any of the Northeast outdoor stadiums can be extremely difficult in winter," Landeta said. "It depends on the day you get. It works to your advantage that you know where the winds are blowing. But that doesn't mean you'll have success. Veterans Stadium is not that far off from Giants Stadium." Landeta and Rohn Stark are tied for No. 1 among all punters with 1,000 career attempts with an average of 43.4 yards per punt. Landeta led the conference in punting four times (1986, '90, '94 and '95) and the league once ('94), and was named to the NFL's All-1980s team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee. Of the three remaining players from the USFL (Doug Flutie and Reggie White are the others), Landeta is the only one to play every NFL season since the old league folded. "He gives you a secure feeling," Eagles head coach Andy Reid said. "He's done it for a number of years in all different conditions." Landeta says the hardest part about punting in bad weather is the mental aspect. "You have to hit different punts in different situations," Landeta said. "You can hear the television announcer say you shanked it, but sometimes being mediocre is being good. You can't always hit high, pretty punts. You have to do what works in the situation." In his 16th NFL season, Landeta averaged 42.3 yards per punt and was fourth in the NFC with a net average of 36.0, and had 23 punts inside the 20. Four of his nine punts landed inside the 20 in a 24-7 loss at Giants Stadium on Oct. 29. "He can drive it into the wind. He can get it on the ground when he needs to," Eagles special teams coach John Harbaugh said. "At times, he forces returners to catch the ball over their shoulder. Those things are invaluable." Landeta has averaged 41.1 yards per punt in 12 playoff games, including his infamous miss in 1985. He whiffed on a punt attempt into swirling winds at Soldier Field and the ball was returned 5 yards for a touchdown as the Chicago Bears beat the Giants 21-0 in a second-round game 15 years ago.
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