Ball State University Athletics
Chris Miller Named to Playboy Preseason All-America Team
April 24, 2007 | Football
Chris Miller (Libertyville, Ill./Carmel H.S.)
, who will be a junior punter for the Ball State University football team in 2007, has been named to the Playboy All-America Preseason Football Team
"Chris Miller is a weapon for our football team," Ball State head coach Brady Hoke says. "He has been very proficient in his career, and is continuing to work hard to get better and better at his craft. He still has a lot of work to do in his last two years, but we are very proud of his accomplishments. Chris is very deserving of this extremely prestigious honor."
Miller, who was named to The Sporting News All-America Second Team in 2006, led the Mid-American Conference and ranked second in the nation with a 46.26 punting average last season. A two-time All-MAC First Team punter, Miller punted 57 times for 2,637 yards with a long punt of 78 yards last season. Of his 57 punts, 20 were placed inside the opponent's 20-yard line, 10 were touchbacks and six were fair catches. Opponents returned 26 punts against the Cardinals in 2006 and averaged only 7.2 yards per punt with 15 yards being the longest return. Ball State's net punting in 2006 was 38.28, which ranked seventh in the country.
Miller's 2,637 punt yards ranked as the 10th highest single-season total in Ball State history, while his 46.3 average was the second best in Ball State annals, behind only Brad Maynard's 46.5 average in 1995.
Maynard is the only other Ball State football player selected to the Playboy All-America Preseason Football Team, when he was selected prior to the 1996 season. Maynard, who completed his 10th season in the National Football League this season as a member of the Super Bowl bound Chicago Bears, was named to 16 All-America teams in his four-year career from 1993-96.
Miller also received honorable mention on the SI.com All-America Team last fall, and was a co-recipient of Ball State's Bill Reynolds Special Teams Player of the Year Award. The Bill Reynolds Award is given in the memory of the man who spent 31 years as a volunteer in the Ball State athletics department with an emphasis on the football program prior to his death in the summer of 2000.
