Chris Hanson (American football)
Christopher David Hanson (born October 25, 1976) is a former NFL punter who played 10 seasons in the league. He played college football at Marshall University, helping the Thundering Herd win the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA national championship. He went undrafted in 1999 but signed with the Cleveland Browns. He also spent time with the Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, and Jacksonville Jaguars, and had brief stints with the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots. Hanson was a switch-punter, able to punt with either foot.
His best season came in 2002 with the Jaguars, when he averaged 44.2 yards per punt and earned a Pro Bowl nod and Second-team All-Pro honors. In 2003, he suffered a serious non-kicking foot injury in the Jaguars’ locker room after swinging a wooden axe as part of a team ritual, missing the rest of the season. He returned in 2004 and in 2005 earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Month honors in September. Hanson finished his NFL career with 577 punts for 24,532 yards, an average of 42.5 yards per punt.
After retiring from football, Hanson became the head football coach at Trinity Christian School in Sharpsburg, Georgia, in 2011, after spending a year as an assistant under his former high school coach.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:39 (CET).