Written By Laura Barhardt Cech
In a photo from his toddler days, you can see the future Sam Koch. Although he is in diapers, he is kicking a football.
The Nebraska native has been perfecting those skills since elementary school when his dad showed him a basic punt.
“I always liked kicking the ball,” said Koch (pronounced “Cook”). “I wasn’t the biggest kid. But (punting), you don’t have to be. You just need to be good at what you do.”
Today, the Baltimore Ravens player is quickly becoming one of the best punters in the NFL. Koch is setting new records each season. His 45.0 gross average and 39.9 net average, for example, set Ravens single-season records in 2008.
We caught up with the local athlete as he finished his third season with the Ravens and asked him about the life of a football player, his professional goals, why he made Carroll County his home and what he enjoys doing off the playing field.
“This was always my dream,” said Koch, a father of three.
Koch grew up in a small, rural town with two younger brothers and one younger sister.
His first paying job was detasseling: pulling the top tassels off of cornstalks. It is mindless, physical labor. “It’s good for the corn, I guess,” said Koch.
But, he said, he quickly knew, “I didn’t prefer that type of job.”
An all-state linebacker in high school, Koch turned down offers to play defense at several small colleges. He walked on as a kick-off specialist at the University of Nebraska.
The coaches recognized Koch’s abilities. He was red-shirted his freshman year. By his junior year, Koch was the starting punter on a scholarship.
As a senior, he broke the school’s single-season punting mark by averaging 46.5 yards. In the Alamo Bowl game, Koch averaged 51.5 yards on eight punts – including five of 50 yards or more – for Nebraska against Michigan.
Koch graduated with a degree in business administration. He said he was not sure what he was going to do after college. But before he had to start interviewing for a 9 to 5 job, he caught the attention of the NFL.
In the sixth round of the 2006 NFL Draft, Koch became the first Raven drafted from Nebraska.
At first, moving to Carroll County was a convenient choice.
Nine days after being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens, Sam Koch’s wife gave birth to their youngest son. They quickly found a home close to the Ravens training facility in Owings Mills and training camp at McDaniel College.
But Koch and his wife have decided to raise their three sons in Westminster.
The farms and cornfields remind the 26-year-old football player of his own childhood. The hilly area is bit exotic to a Nebraska native. But still, it feels like home.
“It’s a lot like where we come from in Stewart (Nebraska),” said Koch, adding that Carroll County’s rural character and excellent schools appeal to the family.
The commute is also decent – especially when you consider how much time a Ravens player spends practicing and working out to stay in shape.
The team had a few months’ break in January and February. But by mid-March, Koch and his teammates are back at the training facility, spending several hours each day lifting weights and doing cardio workouts as part of off-season conditioning. Specialized practices and mini-camps are held in May and June.
“You have to stay fit,” said Koch, who is 6 feet 1, weighs 230 pounds and runs, kick-boxes, lifts weights, and plays basketball and golf.
Ravens’ Assistant Coach and Special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg says Koch’s work ethic is remarkable.
“He comes in every day, with a plan to get better. And he does.
“One thing I didn’t know before I got here was what a great all-around athlete he is,” Rosburg said. “He can throw. He can run.
“He’s a real team guy too,” said Rosburg. “He’s a professional and a family man.”
During practice, Koch, Ravens kicker Matt Stover and long snapper Matt Katula work together.
“It’s usually on a Thursday or Friday. We think of possible scenarios,” Koch said.
A game-winning field-goal attempt among them? “Yeah, that’s always one of them,” he said.
Koch has also adopted one of Stover’s techniques for improving. He writes down the conditions and outcomes of each kick in practice and in games, so that he can review them later for insight into ways he can be better.
Koch is up to four red notebooks. “My wife just pulled them out of the basement,” he said.
Some fans may not realize how seriously players take their game, said Katula, one of Koch’s good friends on the team.
“Sam is a really hard worker, someone who takes pride in what he does,” he said.
In the 2008 season, Koch played in all 16 games for the third consecutive season and punted 84 times for a 45-yard gross average, which ranked ninth in the NFL. In addition to setting single-season records for the Ravens, he also led the NFL with 18 punts inside the 10-yard line and placed a career high of 34 punts inside the 20-yard line (second in the NFL).
As soon as the ball leaves his foot, Koch generally knows how it will end up. “Ninety-eight percent of the time, you know,” he said. “Once you hit the ball, you know the direction and where it’s going.”
But football is more than physical ability. “Football is a mental game. Ninety percent of it,” he said.
To reduce some of the pressure, he and Stover frequently talk during games. “It keeps us at ease,” said Koch.
Koch is ambitious, and his goals do not end with helping his team reach a Super Bowl.
“One of my personal goals is to make it to the Pro Bowl,” he said. “I want to be one of the best in the NFL.”
That he was a serious contender for the Pro Bowl speaks volumes about how well Koch is doing, his coach says.
Even more telling about his character is how he handled the news he was not chosen this year. “It didn’t bother him a bit,” said Rosburg.
Koch’s uniqueness does not end on the field.
He enjoys woodworking, for example. He recently made some of his teammates wood locker organizers. “Imagine an old school toolbox, but it carries shower accessories,” said Katula.
He’s also made tables, model cars and other furnishings. “I like working with my hands,” said Koch.
“I’m guessing he’s probably the only NFL player who could build a house himself,” said Katula. He is also very frugal. “I think he’s got to be his financial advisor’s best client.”
In his downtime, Koch likes to play golf. “I’m always looking for someone to play with,” he said.
But most of Koch’s time is spent with his wife Nikki and his sons: Ryan, Braxtyn, and Kamdyn.
He and Nikki are from the same hometown. They started dating in college and have been married since 2005. “My wife is really supportive,” he said.
Their oldest son is playing indoor soccer. And Koch goes to every practice and game that he can. “He might play football this year,” he said.
Like many young families, they like to vacation in Disney World. One of the family’s favorite local spots is O’Lordan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant.
For Koch, it’s the simple pleasures that are most rewarding. As he says: “I just like playing with my boys.”
