Braden Mann

Early life

Mann played kicker and punter at Cy-Fair High School in Cypress, Texas, under the tutelage of head coach Ed Pustejovsky, a former Texas A&M football player. As a junior, Mann scored 7-of-10 field goals (with a long of 49 yards) and 46-of-48 extra points. He was named to the 2014 Houston Chronicle All-Greater Houston team. As a senior, he scored 25-of-25 extra points and recorded a 45-yard punting average on 41 punts. Following his senior season, Mann played in the Under Armour All-America Game.

Though Mann wanted to play linebacker in high school and college, he was not able to do so due to his size and injuries. As a college football recruit, he was rated nationally as the number two kicker by Rivals.com and the number five kicker by 247Sports.com.

College career

Mann was primarily the kickoff specialist during his first two years at Texas A&M. During his freshman season, he averaged 63.9 yards on 76 kickoffs, and as a sophomore, he averaged 62.4 yards on 73 kickoffs. He was not the starting punter during his freshman year and only punted the ball twice during the season (two punts for 94 yards, or a 47.0 average). As a sophomore, he did not punt at all and made only one kicking attempt, which came when he missed a 43-yard field goal try in the season-opening 44–45 loss to UCLA.

Following the graduation of veteran punter Shane Tripucka, Mann became the starting punter during the 2018 season, and made an immediate impact on the team. During the Alabama game, he broke the NCAA football bowl subdivision single-game record with a 60.8 punting average. The previous record of 60.4 was set in 1983 and matched in 2010. During the Kentucky game, he recorded an 82-yard punt, which in Texas A&M punt history was the third-longest and longest since 1944. After the first six games, in October 2018, Mann received midseason All-America honors from the Associated Press, Athlon Sports, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports, USA Today, and ESPN. He also received praise from former NFL punter and pro bowler Pat McAfee.

Mann continued to receive recognition for the remainder of his junior season. During the November 2018 game against University of Alabama at Birmingham, he made his 14th punt of 60 or more yards breaking the NCAA FBS single-season record set in 2005 by former Wake Forest punter Ryan Plackemeier. Following the regular season, Mann received first-team all-SEC honors from the league's coaches and the Associated Press and was also named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year. He picked up first team All-America honors from the Associated Press (AP), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Athlon Sports, CBS Sports, ESPN, Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, College Football News, USA Today, and Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF). Since he earned All-America honors from all five NCAA-recognized selectors (AP, AFCA, FWAA, Sporting News, and WCFF), he became the 10th unanimous All-American from Texas A&M. He also won the Ray Guy Award as the nation's top collegiate punter.

Mann led the nation with his season punting average of 50.98 yards per punt. He broke the single-season punting average record of 50.28 set in 1997 by former LSU punter Chad Kessler.