Before Greg Coleman hangs up the phone in Minneapolis, he wants to make one thing clear, a point that could threaten to undermine everything that came before it — if you don’t understand the dichotomy of Pressley Harvin III.
“I’ll say this,” Coleman starts out, “I hope people don’t look at Pressley as a Black punter. … He’s a great punter, who’s going to have a long career, who happens to be Black. I can't unzip this Black skin and take it off. And I know some [obstacles] that were around when I came into the league, these guys don’t have to go through, but that’s the way it is. That’s the position. I’m just wishing him all of the best.”
“The way it is” for punters, by and large, is white. At least in the NFL, and at least until the Steelers drafted Harvin with the sixth-to-last pick, 254th overall, in the 2021 draft.
There have been Black punters here and there, as Coleman knows. In fact, Coleman started it all. He was the first full-time Black punter drafted in the NFL, way back in 1976, way down in the 14th round — back when the draft had nearly twice as many picks as it does now.
But since Coleman’s barrier-breaking 12 seasons, including a decade with the Minnesota Vikings, there haven’t been many more like him or like Harvin. There were 123 punters drafted in the years between Coleman and Harvin, but only two of them Black — Reggie Roby in 1983 and Rodney Williams in 1999.
Yes, that means Harvin is the first Black punter drafted in more than 20 years. It took an unprecedented level of college success to even make that happen, with Harvin winning the Ray Guy Award at Georgia Tech as college football’s top punter — the first Black man to achieve that honor.
“Just to add to that legacy of that finite group — there’s not many of us, really about a handful, and it’s a tight-knit group — to be the first one to win the Ray Guy, I feel like I’m a trailblazer,” Harvin said May 10 from Steelers rookie camp.
Coleman, who calls Harvin’s story “refreshing,” scoffs at anyone who thinks he’s being forgotten in that statement. He, too, considers Harvin a pioneer in his own right, given the way Harvin’s success has put the spotlight back on their small fraternity.
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Through the years, Coleman has gladly kept in touch with Harvin since he first connected with the Sumter, S.C., punter as an underclassman at Georgia Tech. But he doesn’t necessarily know Harvin well. Someone who does is Anthony Giugliano, Harvin’s kicking coach since 2013 and a fellow South Carolina native. He’s been there from the early days of Harvin’s high school punting career and continues to work with the “elite talent” who walked into his life eight years ago.
Giugliano was with Harvin and his family — they call him “Tre” — on draft day May 1. A couple teams were starting to hover around Harvin like vultures, waiting for him to pass through the final 10 or so picks. The free agent offers weren't particularly lucrative, and he had his heart set on hearing his name called, but reality was starting to set in. Giugliano and Harvin’s agent, Jordan Hagedorn, took him outside, away from the TV, to remind him there’s still plenty to celebrate. He was about to graduate from Georgia Tech, and even if he went undrafted, he’d land in a spot where he’d have the chance to compete for a job.
They hadn’t heard anything that day from the Steelers, so Pittsburgh seemed like a long shot. But while Harvin was in the middle of a call with another head coach, hoping to swoop in and sign him, someone handed him his phone. As Giugliano relays the conversation, Harvin didn’t even realize who was on the other end.
“What are you doing, trying to figure out where you’re going as a free agent?”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” Harvin replied.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’m taking you with the next pick. This is Mike Tomlin.”
That’s when Harvin went from “less than ecstatic,” per Giugliano, to elated. All prospects feel that way when their name pops up on the screen, but for Harvin, there was a bit more behind those tears of joy. He mainly played center and tight end growing up before offering to punt for his high school team, just to help out, then pouring his heart into it.
“I can tell you two Division I, FBS schools that passed on him, and I was specifically told it was because he was Black,” said Giugliano, a regional coach for Kohl’s Kicking, the premier organization for training high school specialists. “Nothing to do with his grades, which were excellent; personality, which is great; he’s well-spoken. All that crap doesn't matter. Obviously, he’s talented. But some of these schools in the South will not recruit a Black punter. It’s just kind of an unspoken thing.”
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Of course, Georgia Tech didn’t have a problem offering a scholarship to the kid who didn't look like most players at his position — in more ways than one. Harvin has become a cult hero in football circles for his unique frame, a 5-foot-11, 263-pound wrecking ball with a ball-wrecker of a right foot. He was a state runner-up in shot put, a versatile musician whose best instrument is the saxophone, an ACC academic honor roll awardee who was a 3.8 GPA student in high school, and the author of a 41-yard touchdown pass on a fake punt two years ago against Miami.
And, yes, he fills out a jersey unlike just about any punter you’ve ever seen.
“Yeah, man, I’m a bigger dude. When people ask me if I play football, I always get that question, ‘What do you play?’ And I let them guess for themselves,” Harvin said. “It’s always defensive lineman, fullback, halfback, something like that. When I tell people I’m a punter, they’re just kind of astonished.”
While Harvin believes that he “thrives on it,” Giugliano feels that his prized pupil has often been doubted because of his unusual body type — as if it matters for someone whose primary job is punting and led the nation with an average of 48 yards per boot in 2020 (also more than all but six NFL punters last year).
Giugliano remembers kicking camps where Harvin was winning competitions against prep punters two and three years older than him, posting the best scores, be it for distance or hang time, and seething with determination when he’d shank one.
“He’s always been a big kid,” Giugliano said, “but he’s always been better than everybody else, so, whatever.”
Not that Harvin isn’t dedicated to improving wherever he can. Between being drafted and arriving in Pittsburgh for offseason workouts, Harvin went to stay with Giugliano for about 10 days in Columbia, S.C., where they got him on a nutrition plan, worked on situational punting and even reviewed film of Chris Boswell’s kicks to see what he likes out of his holder.
Spending that week-and-a-half in Columbia also meant more time with Harvin for Jonathan, Giugliano’s 8-year-old son. Jonathan was adopted by the Giugliano family four years ago from Burkina Faso, a small country in West Africa. Giugliano knows the challenges Harvin experienced in football because of his race, but now, “my eyes are open to things I never saw before” thanks to his son.
“Jonathan doesn't have a clue about the NFL or any of this stuff, so he’s just Pressley to him,” Giugliano said. “And it’s pretty cool to see that, but it’s also great for my son to see a young man who’s Black succeed at something not a lot of Black kids succeed at.”
Important FYI: new Steelers punter Pressley Harvin III also throws dimes. pic.twitter.com/VLsLwsGD1Z
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 1, 2021
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Before he left for his new home, Harvin’s mother, Adrienne, sent him a note he wrote on his phone as a 14-year-old. She also shared it with friends and family on Facebook:
“My dream is to make it big and go to the NFL. I am realizing that I have to put all the hard work in now. I’m gonna stay humble and don’t make stupid decisions in life. Dreams are always good to have, and if you don't have one, make one, even if you do, make the standard high and achieve it and go over it. I got my dream, and have the potential for it. My life isn't the best it can be so Ima make it better. So if you got somethin you want to do in life, hold on and put hard work in now, so you can be blessed later.”
“Greg Coleman” might not have dominated Harvin’s Google search history at that age, but Harvin’s certainly aware of the impact he made now. According to Coleman, most of their conversations have been about “just appreciating each other,” two embodiments of perseverance and beating the odds taking place 45 years apart.
“Looking at him and what he had to go through, our journeys are very similar,” said Coleman, who also keeps in touch with Marquette King, a Black punter in the NFL from 2012-18 who’s still hoping for another shot. “You get those stereotypical looks of, ‘Man, look at your size, look at your speed, you’ve got to play another position.’ No one will ever guess you’re a punter or placekicker. So we’ve shared laughs about that and just stayed in touch. I just encouraged him over the years, like I do so many other young punters, be it Black, white, blue or green.”
As he gets settled in Pittsburgh, preparing to compete with Steelers veteran Jordan Berry to be the starter, Harvin loves being a Black punter. But he also just loves being a punter. The No. 27 jersey he wore throughout college, and had to give up in favor of No. 6 in the NFL, was in honor of Sam Foltz. Not exactly a household name, but Foltz was one of the best punters in the country entering his senior year at Nebraska in 2016, a season he never made it to after dying in a car accident that July with fellow punter Mike Sadler of Michigan State.
Harvin looked up to Foltz as a player, then saw him as a friend after learning from him at a kicking camp in Wisconsin, so it was an easy choice to wear his number. Giugliano said Harvin keeps in touch with Foltz’s dad to this day.
Much has been written on the reasons there are so few punters the same color as Harvin — and even fewer kickers and long-snappers — many of them economic and sociological. But does any of it matter now for Harvin? You could argue that it does, and it doesn’t. He’s made it to the top of the mountain, but he hasn’t. There’s a punting job to win, NFL games to kick in, and maybe even Pro Bowls to make someday.
“One thing we have as a motto in our family, if we’re going to do something, we’re not going to quit,” Harvin said of his football road. “Even if it’s not in our favor, we’re still not going to quit. I just never quit. It’s a true blessing to be where I am.”
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
First Published: May 24, 2021, 11:55 a.m.
Updated: May 24, 2021, 12:21 p.m.