Former Kentucky punter Tim Masthay helped the Green Bay Packers defeat Chicago 20-17 in yesterday’s NFC Championship game.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Actually, Masthay may have been the Packers’ most valuable player. That what Packer general manager Ted Thompson thinks.
Thompson said Masthay “won the game for us.”
Here is an excerpt from [URL=”http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/packers/2011-01-23-tim-masthay_N.htm”]USA Today[/URL]:
[QUOTE]
Packers general manager Ted Thompsonsaid Masthay “won the game for us.”
“I thought he was magnificent,” he said. “I was nervous every time he punted.”
Hester’s longest punt return: 11 yards in the fourth quarter — at a key moment: The Bears had momentum after an Earl Bennett touchdown narrowed the score to 21-14. The Packers went three-and-out, and Masthay punted for 58 yards to Hester at the Chicago 18. Hester returned the punt 11 yards, forcing the Bears to start at their own 29 yard line.
Bears coach Lovie Smith was disappointed in the return game. “We never got an awful lot from our return team,” he said.
The Bears got 63 yards in four kickoff returns; Hester had one return for 24 yards.
Masthay punted eight times for 334 yards, an average of 41.8 yards and a net average of 34.5 yards. His longest: a 65-yarder.
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Masthay was an undrafted free agent after his Kentucky career. The Packers signed him a year ago. Before he joined the team, he was working as a tutor for $10 an hour and his wife was a bank teller.
