Los Angeles Rams

Rams Pro Bowler Hekker completes sweep of punting triple crown

Published Jan. 6, 2016 3:30 p.m. ET

foxsports

St. Louis Rams punter Johnny Hekker earned notoriety for all the wrong reasons last month, but he also finished the season with attention-grabbing numbers.

Hekker wound up leading the NFL in both overall punting average at 47.9 yards per kick and net average (43.7), becoming the first punter to rank No. 1 in both categories since Andy Lee with the San Francisco 49ers in 2011.

Selected for his second Pro Bowl, Hekker pulled off the daily double despite also topping the league with 96 punts, marking a career high. He also led the NFL with 41 kicks downed inside the 20-yard line.

According to @EliasSports @JHekker is 1st punter to lead NFL in net & gross avg & I 20s in same season since NFL started tracking I20s ('76)
— Casey Pearce (@ccpearce) January 5, 2016

According to Elias Sports Bureau, Hekker is the only player to finish first in gross and net yardage and punts inside the 20 since the NFL started keeping track of the latter category in 1976.

Hekker's stellar season had been overshadowed by his actions in a Week 16 win at Seattle, when he earned a penalty for unnecessary roughness and a subsequent fine for shoving Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril from behind. Hekker later apologized to Avril for what he admitted was a "boneheaded" move.