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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -** The New York Giants have a new punter today after releasing veteran Steve Weatherford and acquiring Brad Wing from the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a conditional seventh round draft choice.
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Weatherford, who spent the last four seasons of his 11-year NFL career with the Giants, punted 311 times for the team with a net average of 38.8 yards per punt, and landed 97 inside the 20. He will be remembered for the hold -- and the ensuing celebration -- on Lawrence Tynes' 31-yard overtime field goal in the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers that sent the Giants to Super Bowl XLVI.
Wing, originally undrafted out of LSU in 2013, punted in all 16 regular-season games for the Steelers last season and also handled their holding duties. He punted 61 times with a 43.7-yard average and landed 20 inside the 20-yard line. His average of 8.2 yards per return ranked 12th in the NFL in 2014 while his net average of 38.8 was good for 20th. Wing also played in the Steelers' Wild Card loss to the Baltimore Ravens, knocking two of his three punts inside the 20. Â
Wing, a lefty from Melbourne, Australia, started his pro career as a rookie free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013 before being released prior to the regular season. He then signed with Pittsburgh on Jan. 3, 2014.
GET TO KNOW: Brad Wing
- Originally undrafted out of LSU in 2013, Wing became the Steelers' primary punter and holder in 2014, punting 61 times with a 43.7-yard average and landing 20 inside
the 20-yard line. His average of 8.2 yards per return ranked 12th in the NFL in 2014 while his net average of 38.8 was good for 20th.
- Wing entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles but was released prior to the start of the 2013 season. Pittsburgh then signed him to a reserve/future contract on Jan. 3, 2014.
- Against Baltimore in Week 9, Wing threw a two-point conversion to tight Matt Spaeth. He connected on a 74-yard punt in Week 14 against Cincinnati, the longest of his career.
- A lefty from Melbourne Australia, Wing, 6-3 and 205 pounds, graduated from Parkview Baptist High School (Baton Rouge, La.), lettering in his only season of playing football after moving to the United States as an exchange student. He grew up playing Australian Rules football in Melbourne, and his father, David, was an Aussie Rules football player who also tried out for the Detroit Lions in 1990 and then punted for the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe in 1998.
- Wing played in 23 career games at LSU and averaged a school-record 44.6 yards on 118 career punts. He became just the second punter in LSU history to earn first-team All-America honors and holds two of the top five single-season punting averages in school history: his 44.8-yard average in 2012 ranks third and his 44.37-yard average in 2011 ranks fifth. Wing was a college teammate of Giants wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. (2011-2012) and Rueben Randle (2011).
Photos of the Giants 2015 official roster