By Tom Rowe

Contributing Writer

Imagine, if you will, that you have the athletic ability to pinpoint a baseball anywhere in the strike zone at speeds well in excess of 90 miles per hour. And contemplate, yet, that your sports talents allow you to use deft hand-eye coordination in tossing basketballs with regularity through the net. What sport do you think you’d choose as your most proficient?

Well, if you are Charlie Townsend, one of the newest members of the Norwich High School Sports Hall of Fame, you would be most proud of your exploits on the football field as a punter. That’s right, a punter! Even though Townsend was an All-Iroquois League tight end on the gridiron, too, it is the memory of his booming punts that immediately brings a smile to his face.

“Everything I did athletically came easy to me. Whether it was throwing a baseball, catching a football, shooting a basketball or even playing pool, I was good at it,” recalled Townsend. “But, punting was something I had to work at. And when I became good at it, I was very proud.”

Called upon his freshman year by then grid coach Kurt Beyer to start honing his punting skills, Townsend went on to produce 53 career punts that traveled 1,792 yards for a 33.8 yard per boot average. And, remember the punter stands 10-12 yards behind the line of scrimmage, from where the subsequent boots are measured. But, more on that later.