By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer
Jeff Ogden has a few visions of his first trip back home as an NFL player this weekend. Several involve him breaking a punt return for a touchdown against his favorite childhood team, the Seattle Seahawks.
Another image has the makings of a bad nightmare.
You see, the Snohomish High School graduate has found a niche as the Miami Dolphins’ punt returner, and he’s worried about what his mother will do when she sees first-hand what kind of punishment he takes.
“In person, you hear the smacking when someone gets hit, then you hear all the ooh’s and the ah’s,” Ogden said. “I just hope she doesn’t run down onto the field. That would be a little embarrassing.”
Janet Ogden has watched her son’s entire football career, but it hasn’t been easy lately. Since Ogden joined the Dolphins at the beginning of last season, he has found himself in a more dangerous role while returning punts. That’s something that is hard for a mother to watch.
“It makes me a little nervous,” Janet Ogden said. “I always want to make sure he’s OK. I tend to worry a lot, but that’s a part of being a football mom. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.”
Despite a career at Eastern Washington University in which he was named an honorable mention Division I-AA All-American, Jeff Ogden never returned a punt for the Eagles. He first started learning the skill in 1998, when he was a rookie with the Dallas Cowboys.
“I did it my senior year in high school,” Ogden said, “but it’s something I had to learn quickly in Dallas. I only did it when Deion (Sanders) was tired.”
The Dolphins weren’t even planning to use Ogden as a punt returner last season, but he beat out rookie Ben Kelly to win the job after veteran return man Leslie Shepherd got hurt. Ogden returned 19 punts for the Dolphins last season, averaging 17 yards per try. His 81-yard touchdown return against Green Bay sealed Miami’s 28-20 comeback win over the Packers.
By the time the 2000 season was over, Ogden had a better punt return average than anyone in the NFL with more than 10 returns. But he was one return shy of qualifying for the official leaderboard (Baltimore’s Jermaine Lewis led the NFL with an average of 16.1 yards per return).
It turns out Ogden is a natural at this punt returning thing.
“Now when people introduce me, they say, ‘This is Jeff, he’s the Dolphins’ punt returner,’” Ogden said. “I’m no longer the receiver; I’m the guy who returns punts. It’s a role I’ve fallen into.”
Ogden, 26, currently ranks sixth in the AFC, averaging 11 yards per punt return.
“He is a typical guy who has a role on this team and understands his job on special teams,” Miami coach Dave Wannstedt said. “He has become an important part of our football team.”
Now that he’s found a niche, Ogden is finally starting to feel some sense of job security – even though his current $512,000 contract expires after only one year. Ogden closed on a house in South Florida over the weekend, and has started a foundation called Catch A Star that helps couples wanting to adopt children.
“My roots have settled in a little bit,” Ogden said, “but in this business you never know.”
Had it not been for punt returning, perhaps Ogden would no longer be in the NFL at all. He had relative success as a wide receiver for the Cowboys, but never got higher than fourth on their depth chart. He’s currently the Dolphins’ No. 5 receiver, although an injury to Dedric Ward means Ogden could see time with the Miami offense this week.
Suffice to say, returning punts has been a big reason why Ogden has stayed in the NFL for four seasons.
“It’s tough,” Ogden said. “There’s a lot of decision-making going on back there. There are a lot of little things that go into it.”
Ogden freely admits that returning punts is a bit more dangerous than his duties as a wide receiver. He played through a shoulder injury for most of last season, and spent part of the summer trying to build back strength.
“I take a lot more hits,” Ogden said. “That’s kind of the hazard of the job.”
In an effort to alleviate his parents’ concern, Ogden has developed a signal after each return. After opposing players get up, he taps his helmet to let his parents know he’s fine.
“They’re the first ones I have to call after every game,” Ogden said. “Their first question is always, ‘Are you OK?’ I tell them I’m fine. There are times I’m not feeling OK, but I tap on my helmet anyway just to ease their minds.”
Despite her anxiety, Janet Ogden is getting used to the fact that her son’s NFL career isn’t just a passing thing. So much so, in fact, that Janet and Lloyd Ogden finally purchased a satellite dish to watch all the Dolphins’ games.
“Every year Jeff was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to play much. You’d better not buy one,’” Janet Ogden said. “We finally stopped listening to him and bought one this year.”
Without having to jump on an airplane, as has been the case on several other NFL Sundays, the Ogden family will get to see Jeff in person this weekend. Now if only they can figure out a way to keep Mom in the stands.
“I have four kids, and no matter what their profession is, I’m going to worry,” Janet Ogden said. “I worry about all of them equally.”
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