Punterville State of the Punter

Punterville is a ghost town.

Mayor of Punterville here. Or what’s left of Punterville, I guess.

To anyone out there, yes, Puntervill is gone. This city was once established when a great hero came to the area in 2019, hailing from Australia. He brought ruthlessness and premium punts. His name: Mitch Wishnowsky. Our response: PUNTERZZZZ.

There were questions: Why did they take Wishnowsky in the fourth round?

Unlike many a punter, Wishnowsky answered in a preseason game against the Broncos.

This led to two outcomes: Madden updating their tackling rankings to include all players, and a city known as Punterville was built to worship this immense hero. From there, he was a punting highlight reel. There was the 62-yard boot from the 49ers’ side of the field to the Kansas City Chiefs‘ 3-yard line.

Then he added to his legacy, getting named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in November. Wishnowsky could do no wrong. Year after year, he proved his worth as the hero of this great town. Even in 2023, he was at the top of punter stats. This boot in the Seattle Seahawks game certainly helped:

But then 2024 came. And Wishnowsky seemed to show a different side of himself. There was a blocked punt where he would have shoryuken’d the guy years ago, but here he just watched:

This can be blamed on the supporting cast. We’ve seen our hero fight from worse. But a few weeks later, our hero was part of the massive dial-a-injury bug the 49ers had. Suddenly, he seemed…human. He was placed on injured reserve late in the 2024 season, along with the rest of the players affected by the “dial-a-injury” policy.

And now? He’s gone. Wishnowsky was released this week as the 49ers turned into the San Francisco Jets. New 49ers special teams coordinator Brand Boyer is going to move the Bay Area’s punting efforts away from Punterville.

Most of the citizens in this town have packed up and left. The Whole Foods we fought so hard to get is now abandoned. Once, In-N-Out Burger was considering opening here. It’s all just buildings: empty buildings, and some empty hearts.

I’ll make my way out of here as well, once Punterville City Light turns off my electric bill or cuts off my internet. Whichever comes first.

Punterville, like many cities, must come to an end at some point.

But one last time, let’s think back to when Punterville was grand. Former citizens, how would you have ranked Punterville?