It's not often that a punter is the man hyping up the home crowd. It's also not often that he gets the first game ball from the head coach after a win.
But that was the kind of historic day that Jordan Stout had in Baltimore. In what has been a breakout fourth (contract) season for Stout, Sunday's 23-10 victory over the New York Jets was an exclamation point.
Stout tied the Ravens' franchise record for longest punt with a 74-yard missile. His 61.5-yard average on four punts is the sixth-best in NFL history in a single game since 1960.
"If I'm not mistaken, the Jets were the No. 1 special teams in the country," Stout said. "We knew that, so we all were going out there trying to prove that it was us."
Stout's career was a rocky one his first three years. There were flashes of why the Ravens invested a fourth-round pick into the big-legged punter out of Penn State, but there wasn't enough consistency.
It was a lot of pressure replacing Sam Koch, who set a high bar in Baltimore for 16 seasons. After Sunday's game, Stout said it seemed "impossible" to accomplish such a feat. Stout admits it was a make-or-break season in his career as he entered a contract year.
"[Senior Special Teams Coach] Randy Brown tells me, 'If you do poorly, we're going to cut you. If you do OK, we'll re-sign you. If you do too well …' I'm going to leave that part out," Stout said with a laugh. "It's going well."
Koch hung around to coach Stout for his first three seasons, and they still talk frequently. Part of why Stout has boomed this year is because he's gotten the hang of hitting the unpredictable "boomerang" punt that Koch fathered.
"I had a bad last five games last year," Stout said. "Him being there for me was what got me through it and is part of why I'm having a great year this year.
Stout also showed Sunday why he's a special talent in his own regard, and the man Baltimore brought in to succeed their legend. He can absolutely destroy the ball, as he did on the 74-yard punt that tied Koch's record from way back in 2008.
After that punt, Stout said he "lost control of [his] body" when he stretched his arms out. But once he heard fans' cheers, he waved his arms to pump up the crowd even more.
"They were loud. I'm like, 'Oh, let me see if I can get them louder,'" Stout said.
Stout admitted that the pressure of his contract looming over him was on his mind at the beginning of the year, but it's gone now. "There's no stress now," he said.
Head Coach John Harbaugh called it a "red letter" game for the Ravens' special teams unit. The Jets are strong in that phase of the game as well. They scored two special teams touchdowns against the Cleveland Browns two weeks ago.
The Ravens were up to the challenge, even beyond Stout. They covered well. Rookie kicker Tyler Loop hit all three of his field-goal attempts from under 40 yards.
Stout put the cherry on top in the fourth quarter, with the Ravens leading by 10 points, when he boomed a 67-yard punt that went out of bounds at the 5-yard line.
"I think our punt team, in a lot of ways, kept us in it and was the difference-maker in the game," said Harbaugh, who also gave props to Special Teams Coordinator Chris Horton. "That punt at the end of the game was unbelievable."
