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Princeton University Athletics
Brady Clark
Photo by: Sideline Photos, LLC
Brady Clark '27: The Life of An Elite Punter
October 07, 2026 | Football
By Craig Sachson
PrincetonTigersFootball.com
Brady Clark is the rarest type of great player: as happy as Princeton fans are to have him, they're even happier if they never see him play.
Such is the life of an elite punter.
There is natural excitement when the offense takes the field. There is a basic acceptance that the defense has to play, and that is anchored by the hope a playmaker or two might turn the game. When the field goal unit jogs out, there are points to be had. Even a kickoff return brings a jolt of anticipation that someone might break one loose.
When the punter comes on the field, though, it's an admission of defeat. We had the ball, we couldn't do enough with it, and now we're giving it away.
That's the feeling when Clark jogs onto the field. By the time he trots off, you remember how thankful you are that he wears the Orange and Black, and last Saturday was a prime example of the difference he makes on a game.
• • •
Clark took the path many football specialists follow to the gridiron, the one that traveled through years of soccer fields. His father dragged him to a football practice in the eighth grade. He wasn't necessarily interested in trying a new sport, but his dad was curious how Brady would do as a punter.
As it turned out, he did quite well. Over four years at West Deptford High School, he garnered about as many South Jersey football honors as he could: all-group, all-state and even a NJ.com shoutout as the Top Special Teams Player. He set a school record for punting average and won the Special Teams Player of the Year award in New Jersey. He began considering the potential to play college football during his junior year, but recruiters needed to see way more.
"It was a humbling process to go through," Brady remembers of the college camp tour he took between his junior and senior years. "I would do really well at a camp, and nothing would come out of it. It was a little bit discouraging, but I did end up here, so it's not a sad story."
It wasn't sad for him, and it wasn't sad for Princeton, which hosted one of Clark's final stops in his recruiting journey. The Tigers had just graduated an All-Ivy punter in Will Powers, so they weren't just looking for a young player to develop. They were looking for a starter for the upcoming season. Clark stepped on campus knowing he had the opportunity to make an immediate impact, and he didn't need a punter competition to find the motivation to improve.
"My drive to succeed is high," Clark said. "The standard I set for myself is also high. I'm never satisfied. I always feel like I have more to give."
Because of that, Clark has grown every year at Princeton. His punting average has improved by more than two yards through each of the first three seasons, all of which ended with All-Ivy League recognition. He averaged nearly 45 yards per punt on his way to first-team All-Ivy and FCS Punter of the Year semifinalist honors last season.
"Brady has been one of the best punters in the Ivy League and last year was one of the best in the country," head coach Bob Surace said. "His ability to flip the field has been a game changer for us."
It changed Princeton's victory last Saturday while the game was still in doubt. While the 35-7 final might indicate a wire-to-wire domination, the outcome was up for grabs through most of the first three quarters. Clark punted four times will the game was within 14 points, including three times within his own 20-yard line. That meant Columbia had at least three chances to take over in good field position.
Those punts, several of which came with Columbia rushers closing in, went for 56, 46, 54 and 66 yards. Goodbye, field position. Hello, Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week honor. If he had punted enough times this season (kudos to the offense), he would be the FCS leader with a 52.7-yard season average.
Clark, who has also held for field goals the last three seasons, can usually tell when he hits one well.
"I can normally tell just from the drop," Clark said. "If it's a bad angle, it makes it difficult. Sometimes I can still chase it and turn the angle of my foot mid swing and get a good punt out of it. You can also hear the thud of the ball and tell if you hit it well."
Clark, whose punting average would break the Ivy League record by more than seven yards, has developed a process for handling his in-game responsibilities. While teammates generate the raw emotion to help them reach their athletic peak, he knows he needs to remain calm and grounded.
"I try to stay as calm as possible," Clark said. "I don't hype myself up in the game. I don't think that would help me. When I go out there, I try to stay as calm as possible and focus on my swing and my drop. I'll pick an aiming point, somewhere in the stands where I want to throw my body towards in the ball towards. I am conscious of the rush, but it's not something I overly pay attention to. If I need to speed something up or turn my body a certain way just to try to get it off, I'll do that. But when I punt, I want to look at the football and make good contact with it."
His routine has been self-developed over the years, but he hopes that someday he can develop a technology to help other punters. An Electrical and Computer Engineering major, Clark is fascinated by technology,
especially in sports. He is incorporating punting into his senior thesis, which included a sensor in the ball, an accelerometer and a gyroscope, and a machine learning algorithm.
"I'm really interested in finding ways to optimize human performance," Clark said. "I've always been a STEM guy, and when I get exposed to new technologies, I'm curious how they work."
Perhaps Clark will one day create a technology that helps develop punters who can impact the game the way he has over the last four years. Fans still probably won't be excited when they step on the field, either, and that's OK. Clark is used to it.
"People tell me they hope they don't see me play today," he says with a smile. "I get it. If my team doesn't need me, I'm happy for it."
But Princeton does need him, as it did last Saturday. And when it came time to punt, Tiger fans were thrilled that they had Brady Clark coming on the field.
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PrincetonTigersFootball.com
Brady Clark is the rarest type of great player: as happy as Princeton fans are to have him, they're even happier if they never see him play.
Such is the life of an elite punter.
There is natural excitement when the offense takes the field. There is a basic acceptance that the defense has to play, and that is anchored by the hope a playmaker or two might turn the game. When the field goal unit jogs out, there are points to be had. Even a kickoff return brings a jolt of anticipation that someone might break one loose.
When the punter comes on the field, though, it's an admission of defeat. We had the ball, we couldn't do enough with it, and now we're giving it away.
That's the feeling when Clark jogs onto the field. By the time he trots off, you remember how thankful you are that he wears the Orange and Black, and last Saturday was a prime example of the difference he makes on a game.
• • •
Clark took the path many football specialists follow to the gridiron, the one that traveled through years of soccer fields. His father dragged him to a football practice in the eighth grade. He wasn't necessarily interested in trying a new sport, but his dad was curious how Brady would do as a punter.
As it turned out, he did quite well. Over four years at West Deptford High School, he garnered about as many South Jersey football honors as he could: all-group, all-state and even a NJ.com shoutout as the Top Special Teams Player. He set a school record for punting average and won the Special Teams Player of the Year award in New Jersey. He began considering the potential to play college football during his junior year, but recruiters needed to see way more.
"It was a humbling process to go through," Brady remembers of the college camp tour he took between his junior and senior years. "I would do really well at a camp, and nothing would come out of it. It was a little bit discouraging, but I did end up here, so it's not a sad story."
It wasn't sad for him, and it wasn't sad for Princeton, which hosted one of Clark's final stops in his recruiting journey. The Tigers had just graduated an All-Ivy punter in Will Powers, so they weren't just looking for a young player to develop. They were looking for a starter for the upcoming season. Clark stepped on campus knowing he had the opportunity to make an immediate impact, and he didn't need a punter competition to find the motivation to improve.
"My drive to succeed is high," Clark said. "The standard I set for myself is also high. I'm never satisfied. I always feel like I have more to give."
Because of that, Clark has grown every year at Princeton. His punting average has improved by more than two yards through each of the first three seasons, all of which ended with All-Ivy League recognition. He averaged nearly 45 yards per punt on his way to first-team All-Ivy and FCS Punter of the Year semifinalist honors last season.
"Brady has been one of the best punters in the Ivy League and last year was one of the best in the country," head coach Bob Surace said. "His ability to flip the field has been a game changer for us."
It changed Princeton's victory last Saturday while the game was still in doubt. While the 35-7 final might indicate a wire-to-wire domination, the outcome was up for grabs through most of the first three quarters. Clark punted four times will the game was within 14 points, including three times within his own 20-yard line. That meant Columbia had at least three chances to take over in good field position.
Those punts, several of which came with Columbia rushers closing in, went for 56, 46, 54 and 66 yards. Goodbye, field position. Hello, Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week honor. If he had punted enough times this season (kudos to the offense), he would be the FCS leader with a 52.7-yard season average.
Clark, who has also held for field goals the last three seasons, can usually tell when he hits one well.
"I can normally tell just from the drop," Clark said. "If it's a bad angle, it makes it difficult. Sometimes I can still chase it and turn the angle of my foot mid swing and get a good punt out of it. You can also hear the thud of the ball and tell if you hit it well."
Clark, whose punting average would break the Ivy League record by more than seven yards, has developed a process for handling his in-game responsibilities. While teammates generate the raw emotion to help them reach their athletic peak, he knows he needs to remain calm and grounded.
"I try to stay as calm as possible," Clark said. "I don't hype myself up in the game. I don't think that would help me. When I go out there, I try to stay as calm as possible and focus on my swing and my drop. I'll pick an aiming point, somewhere in the stands where I want to throw my body towards in the ball towards. I am conscious of the rush, but it's not something I overly pay attention to. If I need to speed something up or turn my body a certain way just to try to get it off, I'll do that. But when I punt, I want to look at the football and make good contact with it."
His routine has been self-developed over the years, but he hopes that someday he can develop a technology to help other punters. An Electrical and Computer Engineering major, Clark is fascinated by technology,
especially in sports. He is incorporating punting into his senior thesis, which included a sensor in the ball, an accelerometer and a gyroscope, and a machine learning algorithm.
"I'm really interested in finding ways to optimize human performance," Clark said. "I've always been a STEM guy, and when I get exposed to new technologies, I'm curious how they work."
Perhaps Clark will one day create a technology that helps develop punters who can impact the game the way he has over the last four years. Fans still probably won't be excited when they step on the field, either, and that's OK. Clark is used to it.
"People tell me they hope they don't see me play today," he says with a smile. "I get it. If my team doesn't need me, I'm happy for it."
But Princeton does need him, as it did last Saturday. And when it came time to punt, Tiger fans were thrilled that they had Brady Clark coming on the field.
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