Klaus Wilmsmeyer Madden Career 1994-1999 - Peak 89 OVR

Klaus Wilmsmeyer had a German name and a Canadian upbringing, born in Mississauga, Ontario, and he punted his way from Louisville into the NFL in 1992. He handled the punting and kickoffs for San Francisco from 1992 to 1994, a special-teams specialist who, like everyone on those rosters, walked away with a Super Bowl ring from the 1994 team.

Madden's cards of him are erratic, the way punter ratings tend to be on the old scale. The game rated him in the 40s and 50s in his 49ers years, then bumped him up to an 89 after he moved to New Orleans, the numbers bouncing around without much rhyme, since the game has never had a good way to grade the men who kick the ball away. The 89 was as arbitrary as the 46 before it.

Wilmsmeyer punted for parts of six seasons, for the 49ers, Saints and Dolphins, before retiring after 1998. He was an anonymous special-teamer with a ring, just the player whose name survives mostly in old box scores and, now, on a Madden card or two. The Canadian punter with the German name did a quiet job for a while on a great team, which is a perfectly good way to spend a football career.