Michigan State's Ryan Eckley punts against Washington during the second quarter on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

MSU's Ryan Eckley Compares Kicking, Punting to Golf

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 4:30 PM ET

Elite Michigan State punter Ryan Eckley gave some insight into the mind of a specialist on Tuesday, and he certainly had some interesting things to say.

Eckley had about as good a day as a punter can have last Friday against Western Michigan, punting six times for 308 yards (51.3 average) with a long of 59 yards, putting four inside the 20 and two inside the 2. One of those led directly to a safety.

"Just the idea of complementary football; special teams helping defense, helping offense," Eckley said when asked about what it's like when a play he makes directly leads to points. "That's kind of what we're working for.

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"I go out there and do my job at the best level I can, and then our defense goes out there and executes at the level they can, then we put points on the board directly. That's great to see each of us translating to each other's games."

Overlap Between Kicking and Golf

The one nit-pick about Eckley's Week 1 performance was that he sent a 46-yard field goal attempt wide left as time expired on the first half. Even though Eckley hadn't tried a field goal in college, he was the guy for longer such tries with kickers Martin Connington and Tarik Ahmetbasic both dealing with injuries. There's also kicker Blake Sislo, but he's to be used on PATs and shorter field goals.

"Oh, it would've been cool," Eckley said about the missed attempt. "It would've been cool. ... Honestly, I felt really confident and calm going out there. I didn't feel nerves or anything, it wasn't like I was stressed, nervous or anything. I just kind of wrapped the kick a little bit, but I really would've liked that one to go in."

Eckley said that he's made tries from as far away as "like 60" yards out while messing around during fall camp.

Eckley also said that the art of kicking is very similar to another sport: golf.

"Punting, kind of; kicking is identical," Eckley said. "Kicking and golf is identical. You come over the ball, you slice, you pull, you draw, you leave your club face open. Your foot is your club.

"I mean, kicking and golf are identical, same thing. So, if you don't understand kicking, just look at it as golf, and you'll (say) 'Oh, he missed that kick, right? Well, he sliced it.' You've sliced a drive before, you get it. That's really all it is."

Unsurprisingly, Eckley is a golfer. He didn't play it in high school, but he's "addicted" now.

Another golfer and amazing MSU punter is Bryce Baringer, who is now with the New England Patriots. Eckley overlapped with Baringer when he was a true freshman and Baringer was a sixth-year senior.

"Bryce is an unbelievable golfer," Eckley said. " ... He was playing some amateur tournaments over in New England. I think it's common with specialists, who are usually pretty good golfers. We all do golf trips and competitions and stuff."