Kicking is in his blood

Posted Oct 1, 2009 by Nick Williams

Updated Oct 1, 2009 at 01:39 PM

Freedom senior punter/kicker Alex Landeta gets asked about it quite frequently, and the answer is always ‘yes’.

Alex is related for former NFL punter and five-time Pro Bowler Sean Landeta, who retired last year after 25 years in pro football. Sean played for the New York Giants from 1985-1992, winning two Super Bowls with the G-Men under Bill Parcells. Sean retired as the second-leading punter in the NFL history with 1,401 punts for 60,707 yards and 381 punts inside the 20 yard line.

“He’s a distant cousin, my second cousin,” he said. “People who know sports ask me.”

Alex said Sean lives up north, and has seen him only on a few occasions.

“I think I kicked some balls to him when I was younger,” he said.

This season, Alex has punted six times for 224 yards with an average of 37.3 yards per punt. He was also a member of Freedom’s state runner-up boys soccer team last year. Alex said he’d like to play in college, and with a 6.4 weighted GPA, would consider playing for an Ivy League program.

“If it happens, it happens,” he said.

Sean Landeta isn’t the only famous person in Alex’s family. His great uncle is Braulio Alonso, whom the north Tampa high school in is named after.