Justin King said he was integral to the defense. Joe Paterno said he was one of the best in the conference. And Kevin Darling also praised him -- the two have been best friends since sixth grade.

Still, the 6-foot-1 Virginia native doubts you'd recognize him.

"Most times, I have my helmet on, on the sideline. I think very few people actually know who I am," Jeremy Kapinos said. "For the most part, I'm pretty inconspicuous -- I guess that's a good word to use."

In high school, it was the same theme. There was no mention of the football team on the brick entrance outside West Springfield High School. Black letters credited cross country, baseball, soccer, basketball and track. But not football.

He tried out as a sophomore, unknown to some students since he moved away from Springfield, Va., before returning two years later. Players stared blankly the day the 215-pound behemoth voiced his desired position at tryouts. The muscular "new kid" from Georgia seemed more suited at cornerback or wideout.

Not punter.

"He had been a soccer goalie," former high school coach Jim Renner said. "Once he started seeing that maybe he could get a scholarship from punting, he really began to embrace football."

Six years after raising eyebrows by signing up for the punter position, Kapinos has quietly become one of the better punters in Nittany Lion history. He was named the Big Ten's Co-Special Teams Player of the Week, and he ended last week's Ohio State game with an average punt of 50.5 yards, the fifth-best performance in Penn State history.

What makes the accomplishment even more impressive was the fact that Kapinos performed under rainy, blustery conditions. But Kapinos said he was prepared for it -- and Penn State has an interesting way to get him ready.

Two managers will stand alongside the punter every Thursday, spraying him with a hose from each side while Kapinos dips footballs into water to mimic heavy-rain conditions.

"Of course, the water's pretty cold -- that doesn't help," Kapinos said, joking.

The senior already has his sights set on the NFL, but Kapinos actually came pretty close to sticking with soccer. His father, David, played college football for Army in 1973 and wouldn't allow his son from playing the same sport.

"He wouldn't let Jeremy do anything but kick," Kapinos' mother, Rachel, said. "He just knew what it was like being on a football team, and he didn't want his boys to get hurt playing ball.

"He said, 'No. You can't play football unless you kick.' "

According to Kapinos' mother, her son's long-time friend, Darling, played a huge role in persuading Kapinos to try out. The future Penn State punter hadn't played a position except soccer goalie since he was four-years-old. Having that added incentive of Darling on the team only helped matters.

And that's carried over. Darling explained it was just dumb luck the friends landed at the same college, but he was certainly pleased with it. When Darling is on the sidelines, Kapinos is normally there, too.

Although Kapinos was adamant that he is doing more than just twiddling his thumbs while waiting for the opportunity to get on the field.

Instead, it's a lot more structured. On first down, Kapinos will take a few swings on the kicking net. On a second down, he'll get a "position map." On third down, Larry Johnson Sr. will inform him what kind of punt he's looking for. Johnson Sr. will also tell the punter what to expect, in terms of a defensive rush.

"Then it's fourth down, and off we go," Kapinos said.

While most players also try to hide the fact they check out the stat sheet, Kapinos made no apologies about his stat-crunching.

"I think Saturday I averaged 50.5, but the stat that really stuck out was the 47 net average because that's the team," Kapinos said.

The punter recently graduated after completing a 12-credit internship with the Penn State Sports Information Department last semester. Kapinos said he gave his resume to Fran Ganter who passed it on to athletic director Tim Curley.

When asked if the internship was pretty simple, Kapinos answered with a resounding, "No," saying it was the toughest 12 credits he's ever earned.

Kapinos did a lot of event-planning and, during the basketball season, was even responsible for crunching numbers on the payroll.

"That's pretty tough stuff -- especially for a guy that's not very good at math," he said.

The four-year starter may have persuaded Curley for the internship after sharing his career goals. Kapinos said he envisioned one particular path for his future.

"Hopefully 10 years down the road when I'm done playing in the NFL, I can take the ride [to become] an athletic director," he said.