Bengals P Kevin Huber Retires

The Bengals’ all-time games played leader has called it a career. Punter Kevin Huber announced (via Twitter) on Friday that he is retiring.

The Cincinnati native never strayed from home during his football career, playing for the Bearcats in college before being drafted by the Bengals in 2009. He operated as the team’s punter for 13 straight seasons after that, though his run in that capacity came to an end midway through the 2022 campaign.

Huber played the first nine games of the season (enough for him to move into the No. 1 spot for most games played in Bengals history with 216), but his yards per punt average sat at 43.2. That represented a notable decline for the 37-year-old compared to recent years, and led to the team’s decision to move in a different direction. After handing punting duties to Drue Chrisman, Huber was waived in December and retained on the Bengals’ practice squad.

While that represented a disappointing end to his career, Huber will leave the game with a number of accomplishments. The former fifth-rounder earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2014, and twice recorded the NFL’s longest punt in a season (72 yards, in 2010 and ’20). It was considered inevitable, though, that Cincinnati would transition to Chrisman no later than the end of Huber’s most recent one-year pact. In all, he totaled just over $25MM in career earnings.

“From just a Cincinnati kid watching my Bengals at Riverfront Stadium to being drafted as their punter is something dreams are made of,” Huber’s statement reads in part. “The past 14 years have been beyond my imagination and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the Bengals organization.”

Chrisman’s performance in terms of average (47.8) and net (42.6) punting yards helped earn him the spot over Huber this past season. He will face considerable expectations being tasked with replicating those statistics over the long term, considering the impact made by his predecessor.