Sepulveda injured…..again.
Pittsburgh Steelers punter Dan Sepulveda is probably one of the nicest guys on the team. That’s why I hate writing this story.
Anyone who has ever been to Steelers training camp knows that Sepulveda is probably the easiest autograph to get on the entire team. He is extremely accessible. He talks to anyone who speaks to him. And he usually stays on the field longer than anyone else signing autographs.
Aside from being a very nice guy, he’s a very good punter. Sepulveda can punt for both distance and accuracy. And he’s more than willing to tackle when an opposing return man gets through the special teams’ coverage.
So it saddens me to say that for the 3rd time in his 5 year career, Sepulveda has been placed on injured reserve.
Sepulveda was injured during practice. The team has shared no other information on how the injury occurred.
To replace Sepulveda, the Steelers have signed Jeremy Kapinos. This probably sounds familiar, since the Steelers signed Kapinos last year when Sepulveda was placed on IR.
As much as I like Sepulveda, it may be time for the team to cut ties with him. This is his third time being placed on injured reserve, and I wouldn’t be willing to bet that he won’t get injured again.
The team has to be able to depend on its’ players to stay healthy, and in Sepulveda’s case, it doesn’t look like that’s possible.
Do you think Kapinos would make a good long term replacement?
1I think kapinos should be good long term I think we just kept dan because he was under contract and I believe we used a 3rd or 4th round draft pick on dan. You will be missed dan you were the most feared punter in thr nfl by punt returners
2Speaking of kicking,quit kicking him while he’s down. Geez!
3@BV,
I don’t think anyone is kicking Sepulveda while he’s down. I really like Dan. Anytime I’ve tried to talk to him, he always makes time for me. I tried to paint that picture in the article.
However, Dan is a PUNTER. He uses his legs to do his job. And this is his third ACL tear. That’s not good for any NFL player. But it’s especially bad for a kicker or punter.
If you recall, Dan tore his ACL last year, and the Steelers had to sign Kapinos. Now it’s happened again. The same thing happened in 2008. Dan missed the entire season that year.
He has played only 2 complete seasons during his 5-year career. That’s not good. The Steelers need players who can stay healthy and get on the field. Dan has had difficulty doing that.
Dan was drafted in the 4th round, which is extremely high for a punter. That makes it even more important that he stay healthy. There were some exceptional players at skill positions that the Steelers could have taken with that pick.
I’m sorry that you feel that we’re kicking Sepulveda while he’s down, but if you had to wager next years’ salary that Sepulveda will never get hurt again, would you take that bet? I didn’t think so.
We try to share objective opinions about the things that affect the Steelers. This is one of them. As much as I like Dan, I’m truly concerned about his ability to stay healthy. Can any player come back from a 3rd torn ACL? I don’t know. I certainly hope that Dan can. But when next year’s draft comes along, I’ll probably write that the Steelers should take a punter in the late rounds (NOT in the 4th round).
4I’m glad we had him (beat having Mitch Berger!) but 3 ACL tears is pretty ridiculous. Is it the same knee each time? If so, he should probably hang it up if he wants to walk at an older age.
5