How Wisconsin football punter Atticus Bertrams became a special teams weapon
Wisconsin Badgers lefty punter Atticus Bertrams quietly emerged as one of the most reliable specialists in the Big Ten Conference. What comes next?
You don’t usually notice a punter until something goes wrong. A shanked kick. A block. A momentum shift handed to the other sideline. But when a guy like Atticus Bertrams is on his game, you notice — not because of the mistakes, but because of how rarely they tend to even happen.
And heading into the 2025 season, the Wisconsin Badgers junior isn’t just drawing attention in Madison. He’s becoming a name to know nationally.
Aussie-born, rugby-built, and wired for high-pressure moments, Bertrams has quietly emerged as one of the most dependable specialists in the Big Ten. After averaging 45.3 yards per punt in 2024 — second-best in the conference — he enters his third year in the program as a genuine field-position weapon for Luke Fickell and the Badgers football team.
As a freshman, Bertrams handled punting duties in all 13 games, logging 63 punts for 2,602 yards (41.3 average) with a long of 60 yards and six punts that traveled over 50. It was a solid debut by most standards. But like most international punters making the leap to college football, it was clear he had room to grow, in consistency, in control, and in knowing when to swing big versus when to play the field position game.
That growth from Bertrams came fast, but it wasn't always smooth sailing. The transition from Australia to Big Ten football came with a learning curve.
“Honestly, it’s just the experiences and the mistakes I made in my first year that helped me take a big step in year two,” Bertrams told BadgerNotes. “As an international athlete, you have no way of knowing how crazy a football season is until you’re actually in it. That, and the work we do in the weight room. Putting more muscle on my frame has helped too."
The unknowns hit the 6-foot-3, 237 pound punter hard in 2023. The travel, the tempo, the weather, none of it could be fully prepared for through training alone. But Bertrams adapted. He added strength in the weight room working with Brady Collins and his staff, sharpened his timing, and leaned into the details of his craft.
And in doing so, he became something every coach values deeply: reliable.
“I want to be the most dependable guy on the roster. That’s what the job demands,” Bertrams said. “There are also 10 other guys that make it happen downfield. I’m just the guy that puts the ball there.”
That kind of humility isn’t just for show — it’s how Bertrams operates. He isn’t all caught up in preseason watch lists, even if Athlon Sports did name him a preseason third-team All-Big Ten pick. What drives him is the competitive grind of being great at something so few people understand.
“I don’t think there’s one true thing that separates me from others,” he explained. “It’s the motivation of knowing there are punters all around America trying to out-punt me every week, and that keeps me focused and driven. In saying that, I’m a pretty relaxed guy, which helps immensely on game day. Stops me from getting too high or too low throughout a game.”
That calmness shows on the field. He rarely rushes. His steps are measured. His execution is crisp. And when he rolls out left and delivers a 50-yard dart that dies inside the opponents 10-yard line, you understand why the Wisconsin Badgers coaching staff trusts him implicitly.
“I see myself as a really important part of the team. Field position can mean a great deal in the later stages when it gets harder to move the ball explosively,” Bertrams said. “There’s obviously plenty that goes into a win, and my role may not create or set up points directly, but this staff knows how crucial field position is when trying to wear a team down over four quarters.”
That importance showed up in the numbers, too. Bertrams booted 15 punts of 50-plus yards for the Badgers last fall, more than double his total as a freshman, showing his growth and his ability to flip the field when it matters most.
In 2024, Bertrams pinned 21 of his 55 punts inside the 20. And when Wisconsin needed a spark, he delivered, like on a broken play that turned into a 15-yard run and a first down conversion against Penn State, keeping a critical drive alive. It wasn’t by design, but Bertrams made it work. He has routinely shown the ability to change the momentum of a game.
Still, for all of his on-field value, Bertrams has had to navigate some unique challenges behind the scenes. While Matt Mitchell technically oversees the special teams unit, his primary responsibility lies with the outside linebackers. And although Wisconsin hired Michael Cibene this offseason to replace Eric Raisbeck as an assistant special teams coordinator, he wasn’t around a year ago, leaving guys like Bertrams to seek help in creative ways.
“Coach Fickell has a large impact on punt, mostly formational work, but it’s a unique position where we don’t have anyone on staff that’s punted, kicked, or snapped, which presents its own challenges,” Bertrams shared. “Honestly, I lean on my network of other players from Australia that I trained with back home, as well as the specialists' room at Wisconsin.”
That network includes fellow Prokick Australia alumni, a pipeline that’s churned out elite punters across college football for more than a decade. It’s a fraternity of players who understand the nuances of directional punting, rollout angles, and when to go for placement versus power. That same pipeline has produced names like Mitch Wishnowsky (Utah Utes, now with the 49ers), Michael Dickson (Texas, Seahawks), Tory Taylor (Iowa, Bears), and Jordan Stout (Penn State, Ravens), all of whom transitioned from Prokick to Power Five football and eventually the pros.
As for Bertrams, his long-term goal is the same as most elite punters: the NFL. But he knows the road to a professional career as a specialist demands evolution.
“Obviously, the NFL is the goal, but I recognize that I still have a huge mountain to climb to reach that,” Bertrams said.
“You have to be special to secure a job that there are only 32 of in the world. In college football, rollout-style punting tends to be popular, but at the next level, it’s far more traditional spirals from inside the pocket. That’s something I’m hopefully able to have more chances at this season.”
That growth, from an Aussie newcomer learning the nuances of Division 1 college football to a Big Ten standout with pro aspirations, has been steady and intentional. And that’s what makes Bertrams so valuable. He’s not just a punter. He’s become a technician, a student of the craft, and a culture fit in a locker room still looking for its identity.
In a year where Wisconsin is breaking in a new offensive coordinator and making stylistic shifts on defense, there are real questions to answer on both sides of the ball. That’s what makes having a field-tilter like Bertrams such a massive weapon.
When games get tight and drives stall near midfield, he’s the guy who changes the calculus. And the numbers back that up.
According to Pro Football Focus, Bertrams averaged 45.3 yards per punt last season, third-best in the Big Ten and 15th nationally. His average net of 42.4 yards per punt ranked second in the conference and ninth in the country among punters who handled at least half their team’s attempts. He dropped 21 punts inside the 20-yard line (fourth-most in the Big Ten), allowed just 99 total punt return yards all season, and forced 15 fair catches with only three touchbacks to his name.
Opponents returned just 36.4% of Bertrams' punts, and when they did, they averaged just 5.0 yards per return, which slotted him 23rd nationally. His longest punt, a 74-yard rocket against the USC Trojans, was the longest in the Big Ten and the seventh-longest in college football during the 2024 season. His average hangtime? A steady 3.71 seconds per punt. Turns out, the analytics love him just as much as Wisconsin's coaches do.
And don’t let the position fool you, he knows exactly what’s at stake every time he takes the field: “It’s just about going out there, doing a job and making an impact in those very few opportunities I get.”
He does that. Again and again. And if you’re still not paying attention to what Bertrams brings to the field on Saturdays, maybe it’s time to notice the guy whose job is not to be noticed. This is the Big Ten, where punting matters, and it isn’t just a possession change. It’s considered an art form. And Bertrams might just be one of the conference’s best artists.
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