Ex-CSUN Punter Wagner Gets Boot as Cowboys Make Next-to-Last Cut

Bryan Wagner, a former Cal State Northridge punter, was one of seven players cut Tuesday by the Dallas Cowboys as the NFL team trimmed its roster to 50.

The Cowboys’ decision practically assures a job to Mike Saxon, a rookie punter out of San Diego State who dueled with Wagner throughout the preseason. The last roster cuts will come Sept. 2, when all National Footbal League teams must be down to 45 men.

Wagner’s release came as a surprise. As recently as Aug. 22, he had received high praise from Coach Tom Landry and special assistant Ben Agajanian, who works with the team’s punters.

Wagner was thought to hold a slight edge over Saxon because of his ability to back up incumbent place-kicker Rafael Septien.

Wagner’s performance in Monday night’s preseason 15-13 win over the Chicago Bears did not help his chances of becoming a Cowboy, however.

“One bad punt and that’ll do it,” said Wagner of a poor third-quarter punt in that game. “I never hit the ball off to the right. It was just one of those things.”

But he was not discouraged.

“Potentially, I could do the job--and eventually I’m going to play in the NFL,” said Wagner by telephone from his home in San Diego. “There’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll make it.”

Monday night’s performance was dismal. Wagner punted three times for 111 yards and a 37-yard average. Saxon punted four times for 177 yards and a 44.25-yard average.

According to Wagner, Landry said he needed to work on punting under pressure. “He said that Saxon had more experience at punting in those situations,” Wagner said.

What a difference a few days makes.

While training in Thousand Oaks last week, Agajanian was high on Wagner, who holds the NCAA Division II mark for best career punting average (43.6 yards).

“If Coach Landry came to me right now and asked me which punter I thought was best, I’d say they’re equal,” Agajanian said.

“If I had a choice between the two--say I needed a punter for the next couple of games--I’d pick Saxon. But if needed a punter for this season and the next one and the next, I’d go along with Wagner because he has the ability to improve and he definitely has strength and the hang time, which is the most important thing.”

In the Cowboys’ three preseason games, the two kickers performed similarly. In seven attempts, Saxon punted for 324 yards, a 46.3 average. Wagner had eight kicks for 330 yards, a 42.2 yard average.

Agajanian said last week that he might favor Saxon because of his performances in practice and in games. But he also acknowledged that Wagner had a punt in the first preseason game against Green Bay that had a hang time longer than five seconds.

Wagner also showed an ability to step in for an injured or tired Septien.

Wagner’s kickoffs through the San Diego game averaged 72.6 yards and stayed in the air an average of 4.06 seconds. Septien averaged 71.2 yards with a 3.89-second hang time. With the new 45-man roster limit, however, Wagner inevitably had to make the Dallas team as a punter. Cowboy Punters: Preseason

Name College No. Yds. Avg. Long Net Mike Saxon San Diego St. 7 324 46.3 55 42.3 Bryan Wagner CSUN 8 330 41.2 56 41.4 John Warren Tennessee 2 78 39 40 35.5

Opponents were Green Bay, San Diego and Chicago. Net yardage includes statistics from first two games only.