You have to be fearless to be a punt returner. You are waiting to catch a ball with 11 opponents running full speed at you and hoping to deliver a thundering hit.

Or you have to be something else.

“One of our trainers said only crazy people return punts,” chuckled Scott Woods, who is a punt returner and wide receiver for the University of Maine’s football team.

He previously spent four seasons at Harvard University, where his 15.3 yards-per-return average was fifth best in the Football Championship Subdivision last fall.

“I like that quote. I’m a risk taker and a rule-bender,” Woods said. “But I feel you need that because you can flip the field with punt returns and really set your offense up.”

Woods graduated with a degree in economics from Harvard and is working towards his MBA at U

See Full Page