Best in 25 Years Series: Burton is Northwestern's top punter

It's been 25 years since Northwestern's magical run to the Rose Bowl in 1995. WildcatReport is celebrating that Silver Anniversary by finding out who's been the best player at each position since that legendary team revitalized Wildcat football.

BEST IN 25 YEARS SERIES:

OFFENSE: QB Dan Persa l RB Justin Jackson l WR D'Wayne Bates l TE Drake Dunsmore l T Zach Strief l G Ryan Padgett l C Rob Johnson

DEFENSE: DE Corey Wootton l DT Matt Rice l MLB Pat Fitzgerald l OLB Napoleon Harris l CB Sherrick McManis l S Ibraheim Campbell

SPECIAL TEAMS: PR Venric Mark l KR Solomon Vault l K Jeff Budzien

The punter might normally be one of the most overlooked players on a football team.

Not for the 1995 Northwestern Wildcats.

Just about any Northwestern fan could tell you that Paul Burton was the punter for the legendary Big Ten champions. His name recognition probably ranks higher than many of the starters.

You want proof? Burton set the record for the highest percentage of votes in the Best in 25 Years Series. He captured 92.7% of the ballots to easily outdistance J.J. Standring and beat D'Wayne Bates' previous record of 85.7% for wide receiver.

That news shouldn't come as a surprise. Burton was a valuable player for the Rose Bowl Cats. He was steady and reliable all season, an important weapon for a team that often depended on defense and field position to win games.

Burton quietly and efficiently did his job that season and really stood out twice that season. Once for a good thing, and once for a bad thing.

Against Miami (Ohio), Burton had one punt blocked for a touchdown. Then, on another punt attempt, a bad snap got behind him and rolled all the way to NU 1-yard line to set up Miami's winning field goal in the Wildcats' only regular-season loss of the year.

The other claim to fame occurred against Indiana two weeks later, when he launched a rocket from his own end zone that covered about 60 yards in the air, and then bounced down the sideline all the way to the IU 3-yard line.

Burton's 90-yard boot tied a school record. And while he would've loved to have broken the record with the kick, he said in "The Foundation" series that it was "a beautiful thing" to get that recognition. He wound up with a 56.6-yard average in that game, again tying a school record -- his own mark that he set the previous year.

That wasn't the only recognition that Burton earned in his career. 1995 wasn't even his best year. He was actually better the year before and the year after.

In 1994, Burton was named first-team All-Big Ten after averaging 43.0 yards per kick. He and John Kidd (1980-83) are the only Wildcat punters in history to earn that honor. He was the second-team all-conference punter in 1996, when he averaged a career-best 43.8 yards per boot.

Burton, if you don't know the story, was born to be a Wildcat. His father, the late Ron Burton, starred at halfback for Northwestern from 1957 to 1959. He was named All-Big Ten in 1958 and All-America in 1959, and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Paul's three brothers also played for the Wildcats: Steve was a quarterback from 1982 to 1984, Ron Jr. a running back from 1985 to 1987, and Phil a defensive back from 1990 to 1993. He even had a sister and sister-in-law who went to NU.

But Paul was the only Burton who played in the Rose Bowl, and the only one to earn a Big Ten championship ring. Two of them, in fact. Now, he's got one more notch in his belt as the best punter over the last quarter century.

BALLOT: Who was the best Northwestern punter over the last 25 years?