Josh Bartel (born 23 April 1985) is an Australian former professional Canadian football punter who played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born: | 23 April 1985 Wodonga, Victoria, Australia |
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight: | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Position: | Punter |
| Career history | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at CFL.ca | |
Before going to the CFL, Bartel played Australian rules football for the Wodonga Football Club.
Australian rules football career
editIn June 2010, Bartel quit Wodonga to pursue a gridiron football career in North America.[1]
Professional career
editBartel joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League in 2012 after leaving Australia and failing to make a National Football League team. Under rules in place at the time, Bartel was considered a "non-import" player because he received his football training in Canada.[2] The rules changed after 31 May 2014,[3] but Bartel was grandfathered in as a "National Player".
In 2012, his first season in the CFL, Bartel punted for 4,985 yards on 116 punts, an average of 43.0 yards per punt,[4] and was named an East Division All-Star.
In 2013, Bartel punted for 4,897 yards on 112 punts, bringing his average up to 43.7 yards per punt.[4] Bartel was again named an East Division All-Star in 2013.
On 17 February 2014, Bartel was traded to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.[5] The 2014 season saw him punt for 4,616 yards on 106 punts, an average of 43.5 yards per punt.[4]
He returned to Australia for the 2015 season, but on 21 January 2016, the Saskatchewan Roughriders announced that Bartel had signed a contract to play for the 2016 season.[6] He punted 134 times for 6,046 yards, an average of 45.1 yards per punt.[4]
On 1 March 2017, Bartel signed a contract extension with the Roughriders that carried through the 2019 CFL season.[7] However, following the signing of Jon Ryan, Bartel was released on 14 May 2019.[8][9]
On 8 July 2019, it was announced that Bartel had signed with the BC Lions.[10]
Personal life
editIn Australia, Bartel had a job lined up selling car tires but instead came to Canada to punt in the CFL.[11]
Bartel's cousin, Jimmy, played for the Geelong Cats in the Australian Football League from 2002 to 2016[12]
References
edit- ^ KOHLHAGEN, BRETT (25 June 2010). "Josh Bartel quits Wodonga to pursue NFL dream".
- ^ "Mullin: Changing the game - The Ratio - CFL.ca". 11 February 2011.
- ^ "Game Rule Ratio - CFL.ca".
- ^ a b c d "Josh Bartel - CFL.ca".
- ^ "Ticats make a deal with Roughriders". 17 February 2014.
- ^ "Saskatchewan Roughriders sign punter Josh Bartel and defensive back Dan West". 21 January 2016.
- ^ "Bartel signs contract extension with Roughriders". 1 March 2017.
- ^ "Riders transactions". riderville.ca. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- ^ "Regina-born punter, former NFLer Jon Ryan signs with Riders". CBC News. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
- ^ "Lions sign punter Josh Bartel". 8 July 2019.
- ^ "The Scratching Post: Ticats all-star punter Josh Bartel on the verge of quitting a year ago". scratchingpost.thespec.com.
- ^ "Aussie Josh Bartel Makes History in Canada". Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.