Gunner Olszewski

Kaleb Gunner Olszewski[1] (/oʊˈʃɛski/)[2] (born November 26, 1996) is an American football wide receiver and punt returner for the New England Patriots. He played college football at Bemidji State as a cornerback.

Gunner Olszewski
No. 80 – New England Patriots
Position:Wide receiver
Punt returner
Personal information
Born: (1996-11-26) November 26, 1996
Alvin, Texas
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school:Alvin High School
(Alvin, Texas)
College:Bemidji State
Undrafted:2019
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-Pro (2020)
  • NSIC Defensive Player of the Year (2018)
  • AFCA Division II All-America First Team (2018)
  • NSIC Newcomer of the Year (2015)
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Receptions:7
Receiving yards:96
Rushing yards:23
Return yards:943
Total touchdowns:2
Player stats at NFL.com

Early life

Olszewski was born in Alvin, Texas, to Eric and Collette Olszewski. He graduated from Alvin High School, where he played football and baseball.[3] He has two brothers: one older and one younger.

College career

Olszewski played for the Bemidji State University Beavers in Bemidji, Minnesota, a Division II school, as a cornerback.[4] In his 2015 freshman season, Olszewski was named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Newcomer of the Year. Olszewski won Defensive Player of the Year in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference as a senior in 2018.[5] He also returned punts and held for field goals and extra points.[1]

Professional career

2019 season

Olszewski was not selected in the 2019 NFL Draft. After the draft, he was invited to participate in rookie minicamps by the Minnesota Vikings, who used him at cornerback,[6] and the New England Patriots, who used him at wide receiver.[7] On May 23, 2019, after the retirement of Jared Veldheer gave the Patriots a roster opening, they signed Olszewski to an undrafted free agent contract.[8] The three-year deal had a $2,500 signing bonus.[9]

On August 31, the day that teams were required to trim their preseason 90-man rosters to 53-man rosters, the Patriots told Olszewski that morning that he would be waived; instead, the Patriots kept him after trading cornerback Keion Crossen less than an hour before the deadline.[10]

He made his NFL debut in the Patriots' 33–3 Week 1 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, returning two punts for 35 yards (averaging 17.5 yards per return).[11] He recorded his first receptions in Week 6 against the New York Giants; targeted three times, he had two receptions, for five and 29 yards.[12] He was placed on injured reserve on November 19, 2019 with ankle and hamstring injuries.[13]

2020 season

On September 12, 2020, Olszewski was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury.[14] He was activated on October 5, 2020, before the team's Week 4 game against Kansas City; because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the minimum stay on IR for the 2020 season was reduced to three games.[15]

In Week 12, against the Arizona Cardinals, Olszewski returned a punt 82 yards to the end zone, but it was called back because of an illegal block by linebacker Anfernee Jennings; after the penalty, it was recorded as a 58-yard return.[16] A week later, against the Los Angeles Chargers, Olszewski had three punt returns totaling 145 yards. His first went for 70 yards and was the first touchdown of his career; he followed it up with returns of 14 and 61 yards. He also added the first receiving touchdown of his career in the fourth quarter, catching a 38-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham in garbage time during the Patriots' 45–0 shutout.[16] Olszewski was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in Week 13.[17] He finished the season with a league-high 346 punt return yards on 20 returns. His average of 17.3 yards per return was a franchise record and the second-highest total since the AFL-NFL merger (after Leodis McKelvin's 18.7 yards per return in 2012).[18]

In January 2021 Olszewski was named to the 2020 AP All-Pro first team as a punt returner. He is the first Patriots punt returner so honored.[19] He received 28 of 50 votes at punt returner, as well as one vote for special teamer.[20] One voter, Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders, noted that Olszewski's punt returns had twice the value of any other punt returner.[21]

NFL career statistics
Year Team Games Receiving Rushing Returning Fumbles
GPGSRecYdsAvgLngTDAttYdsAvgLngTDRetYdsAvgLngTDFumLost
2019NE 8023417.029000000201799.022011
2020NE 13256212.43815234.61203876420.170110
Career21279613.73815234.61205894316.670121

References
  1. Hittinger, Jack (October 21, 2015). "BSU's Young Gun: True freshman cornerback Gunner Olszewski finding his place at Bemidji State". The Bemidji Pioneer. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  2. "Pronunciation Guide – Patriots". Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  3. Collins, Stephen. "That's Just Gunner: Former Alvin coach thrilled to see Olszewski make Super Bowl champs' roster". The Alvin Sun-Advertiser. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  4. "2015 ROSTER". Bemidji State Athletics.
  5. Callahan, Andrew (June 6, 2019). "Gunner Olszewski, the New England Patriots' greatest underdog in years, is taking his shot". masslive.com. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  6. Daniels, Mark (June 15, 2019). "An unlikely break changed Olszewski's future". Providence Journal. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  7. McBride, Jim (June 5, 2019). "A former college DB, Gunner Olszewski aims for greatness as a pro WR". Boston Globe. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  8. Houde, Isaiah (June 6, 2019). "Gunner Olszewski is making a name for himself in New England". USA Today. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  9. Clements, Devon (May 29, 2019). "Report: Gunner Olszewski receives rookie minimum deal from Patriots". Patriots Wire. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  10. Callahan, Andrew (August 31, 2019). "Report: Patriots rookie WR Gunner Olszewski makes roster after being told he would be released". masslive.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  11. Cox, Zack (September 9, 2019). "Patriots' Gunner Olszewski Flashes Punt-Return Potential In NFL Debut Vs. Steelers". NESN.com. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  12. McGuire, Sean T. (October 11, 2019). "Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski step up for Patriots with injured receiving corps". Patriots Wire. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  13. "Patriots activate OL Isaiah Wynn; Place WR Gunner Olszewski on IR". Patriots.com. November 19, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  14. "Patriots make a series of transactions". Patriots.com. September 12, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  15. Cox, Zack (October 5, 2020). "Patriots Activate Damien Harris, Gunner Olszewski; Place Sony Michel On IR". NESN.com. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  16. Daniels, Mark (December 6, 2020). "Patriots Gunner Olszewski turns into unlikely hero in Los Angeles". The Providence Journal. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  17. Gordon, Grant (December 9, 2020). "Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, Bills QB Josh Allen lead Players of the Week". NFL.com. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  18. "Patriots' Gunner Olszewski Had One Of Best Seasons Ever By Punt Returner". NESN.com. January 4, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  19. "How Jake Bailey, Gunner Olszewski made Patriots history with All-Pro honors". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  20. "2020 NFL All-Pro Team Voting". AP NEWS. January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  21. "2020 All-Pro Team Announced | Football Outsiders". www.footballoutsiders.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
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