Josh Bidwell

Pro Career

2006: Played in all 16 contests for the seventh consecutive season, extending his consecutive games played streak to 112… Punted 93 times for 4,045 yards for a 43.5 yard average, the second best single-season performance in his career.

2005: Named to his first Pro Bowl… Selected as the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month in November, and earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors in Week 3 at Green Bay (9/25) and Week 6 vs. Miami (10/16)… His 45.6-yard gross average and 37.5-yard net average were both career bests… His 45.6-yard gross average was the best single-season performance in team history and his 37.5-yard net average was the second-best single-season performance in team history, and ranked third in the NFC.

2004: Played in all 16 games for the fifth consecutive season, extending his consecutive games played streak to 80… Ranked eighth in the NFC with a 42.3 gross average per punt and sixth in the conference with a 36.8 net average per punt.

2003: Appeared in all 16 games for the fourth straight season, extending his consecutive games played streak to 64… Also saw action in both playoff contests.

2002: Saw action in all 16 games and one playoff contest… Finished in the top half of NFC punters in both net average (35.7 yards; seventh) and punts inside the 20-yard line (a career-high 26; fifth)… Kept his touchbacks to only six among 79 punts and never had more than a single touchback in any one game.

2001: Played in all 16 regular season games, plus both playoff contests… Posted the second-best net average (36.5 yards) in team history… Punted 82 times for 3,485 yards (42.5 average), dropping 21 inside the 20-yard line with 10 touchbacks.

2000: Won Green Bay’s punting job left open when Louie Aguiar was not re-signed, beating out veteran Tom Hutton with a steady training camp performance… Played in all 16 games in his first NFL season on the field… Punted 78 times for 3,003 yards (38.5 avg.).

1999: Missed his entire rookie season after being diagnosed with testicular cancer September 1 on the eve of the team’s final preseason game… Was placed on the reserve/non-football illness list on September 5.

College Career

Became Oregon’s punter midway through the first game of his redshirt freshman season when the incumbent suffered what turned out to be a career-ending injury… Lettered the next four years (1995-98) for the Ducks… Had redshirted in 1994, playing as much tight end as punter for the scout team… Was concentrating on his duties as a backup wide receiver when punting opportunity presented itself early in ’95 campaign… Punted 229 times for 9,350 yards – a 40.8-yard average, third-best in school history with a long of 69… Placed 61 punts inside the 20 and registered a 38.1-yard net average over his collegiate career… Enjoyed a true breakout season in 1998 as a fifth-year senior, when he averaged 46.0 yards per punt to shatter the school’s single-season record (previously 43.7) and finished second in the nation in gross average… Also posted a remarkable 41.8-yard net average and was a second-team All-America selection by the Associated Press and Football News… Additionally earned first-team All-Pacific 10 Conference recognition for the first time and won the Gordon Wilson Award as the Ducks’ special teams player of the year… Socked 37% (19 of 51) of his 1998 punts 50 yards or better, including a career-long 69-yarder against Washington… Had the lone punt blocked of his collegiate career in ’98 Stanford game, snapping a string of 189 punts without a block… Was thrust into role as the school’s punter when incumbent Matt Belden tore a thigh muscle in opening game at University of Utah; luckily he had been on trip as a member of traveling squad in his then-role as a backup wide receiver… Was one-of-three on field goal attempts and one-of-one on PAT tries while filling in for Belden vs. Utes on an emergency basis… Hit 42-yard field goal midway through third quarter to tie game at 20 in eventual 27-20 victory over Utah, later adding a successful extra point on Ducks’ go-ahead touchdown… Had opportunity to play in the 1996 Cotton Bowl, the 1997 Las Vegas Bowl and the 1998 Aloha Bowl… Holds a B.A. degree in English.

Personal Bio

Married to Bethany… Was voted the 2000 Ed Block Courage Award recipient by his Packers teammates for his “commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage” in returning to the field after testicular cancer… Remains interested in promoting testicular cancer awareness with the message being early discovery through self diagnosis… During the Packers 2003 training camp, Bidwell tested as one of the strongest members of the team as he bench pressed 225 pounds an astonishing 25 times besting all other players other than linemen and linebackers who lift 315 pounds… Was an all-state pick by The Oregonian as both a placekicker (second team) and punter (third team) his senior season at Douglas High School in Winston, Oregon, when he averaged 45.6 yards per punt despite missing the final three games due to an appendectomy… Also earned all-conference honors three times as a kicking specialist… Served as the school’s option quarterback his junior and senior years, also had started at free safety early in his prep career – a role he relinquished upon becoming the signal caller… Won four letters in football, three in baseball and two for the basketball team, which he led in scoring as a senior… Was a catcher on the school’s state championship baseball team his sophomore year… Plans to begin work on a master’s degree in education in the near future… Owns a female Weimaraner named ‘Lily’… On the heels of his own successful battle with testicular cancer, for the past four years he has taught high school health classes throughout the state of Oregon in an effort to raise awareness about the disease… Also has delivered a similar message to church and youth groups in both Wisconsin and Oregon since his 1999 diagnosis… Active with other charitable efforts throughout Wisconsin, he personally has called an Algoma, WIsonsin student with cancer and gotten involved with the local Make-A-Wish program… Also has helped wrap Christmas presents for the less-privileged in Milwaukee and read to schoolchildren in Green Lake… Wife, Bethany, a one-time all-league basketball player at Eugene’s Churchill High School, now is an assistant coach of a high school softball team… She also holds a Spanish degree from Oregon and worked in the past as a part-time translator at a middle school near the couple’s offseason home… An avid golfer, also enjoys playing basketball and previously had a passion for wiffleball before recently giving up the game… Resides in Eugene, Oregon… Born Joshua John Bidwell on March 13, 1976 in Roseburg, Oregon.

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