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

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 last position player to be elected to the Best in 25 Years team is one that is often overlooked: the punter. All that's left after this is the head coach.

The punter plays a critical role on any team, and he becomes even more crucial to a great one. In a game of inches, the hidden yards that the punter nets can make the difference between a win and a loss, and, in the bigger picture, a trophy or second place.

And on bad teams, well, the punter gets a whole lot of practice.

Our two candidates both played for Northwestern Big Ten championship teams. Paul Burton was the punter for the 1995 Rose Bowl team and the 1996 co-champs, while JJ Standring booted for the 2000 team that shared the title.

How close are these two as punters? They both averaged exactly 41.4 yards per punt, tied for second-most in school history behind the legendary John Kidd.

Read about the careers of Burton and Standring below, and then vote for the punter you think was the best over the last 25 years on the WildcatReport Football Board. You'll find the link at the end of this story.

Reason he deserves it: Burton was one of two punters in NU history to be named first-team All-Big Ten, and he tied an all-time mark with a 90-yard boot in 1995.

The skinny: Burton was a key piece for the 1995 Wildcats. When a team relies on defense and a ball-control power running game like that one did, the field position game is hugely important, and Burton did his part to ensure the team's success.

He had a school record-tying 90-yard punt in 1995 against Indiana, when he averaged 56.6 yards per boot to tie his own school record he set the year before against Air Force.

His best seasons, though, were in 1994 and 1996. In '94, he was the first-team All-Big Ten punter after averaging 43.0 yards per kick. He and Kidd (1980-83) are the only Wildcats in history to earn that honor.

After the Rose Bowl season, Burton closed out his career with a second-team nod in 1996, when he averaged a career-best 43.8 yards per boot.

Reason he deserves it: No one in Northwestern history punted more times for more yards than Standring, whose name is all over the school record book.

The skinny: Standring's is atop the list for all kinds of punting statistics at Northwestern. Let's go through the records he still holds.

Single-game records: Most punts (13) and punting yards (551, 1998 vs. Ohio State).

Season records: Most punting yards (3,404, in 1999) and most punts over 50 yards (19, in 2001).

Career records: Most career punts (305) and punting yards (12,639), and most punts over 50 yards (57).

He also ranks second in career punting average (41.4, with Burton) and has four of the top six spots for most punting yards in a game. He ranks both first and third in most punting yards in a season.

Standring had a big leg and, for three of his four years, he played for losing teams that really needed it.

Go to our Football Board to cast your vote. You can vote for Burton or Standring, or you can vote for "Other" and identify your write-in candidate in your reply the message.

Hurry! The poll will close on Monday at noon.

Ready? CLICK HERE TO VOTE