The Most Interesting Punter In College Football
November 19, 2021 | Football, Joel Coleman
Archer Trafford’s path to Mississippi State has been anything but normal.
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State punter Archer Trafford was on the team bus headed to Texas A&M's Kyle Field for MSU's game against the Aggies earlier this season. Between the Bulldogs' team hotel and the stadium, Trafford was reminded of his roots.
You see Trafford's given name is Charles A. "Hardy" Trafford V. A few years ago though, as a walk-on at the Air Force Academy, Trafford's teammates dubbed him "Archer", fittingly based on a background in archery.
Now here Trafford was in early October in College Station, Texas, where he'd essentially put down his bow for good. He shot in a national indoor championship in March of 2017 on the campus of Texas A&M, then decided to turn his full attention to football. Trafford sent a message to his parents at the recollection.
"He texted my wife and I as the team bus passed by the Olympic archery fields where he grew up shooting on," Archer's father, Skip Trafford, wrote in an email. "His text mentioned the realization that he often brought footballs to those archery tournaments and punted on those fields after the tournament when the other archers were resting or eating. The irony of his return [to Texas A&M] as a punter [versus] the last time as an archer was not lost on him or our family at all."
Four years since putting archery in the past, Archer Trafford was back shooting in the Lone Star State. Only this time, instead of arrows, he was aiming to punt footballs inside the 20-yard line. It was just another twist in a life that, to be called fascinating, would be the understatement of all understatements.
Unbelievable Background
Skip Trafford perhaps sums it all up best.
"[Archer] is truly a living Forrest Gump," Skip says, referencing the iconic movie character portrayed by Tom Hanks. "He has a plethora of interesting factoids imbedded in his young life."
Among the details in Archer's background according to his father:
·       He was born in Budapest, Hungary.
·       He's a Mayflower descendent of 12-times-great-grandfather Francis Cooke and 10-times-great-grandfather Richard Soule. That's created some interesting ties including…
·       He's a relative of six former United States Presidents – John and Quincy Adams, Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, as well as George H.W. and George W. Bush.
·       The family is also related to a few well-known people in the entertainment industry, including actress Marilyn Monroe, actor Richard Gere and director Orson Welles.
·       His mother was a Miss Taiwan finalist, as well as a college track/basketball star.
·       His great-grandfather was chief of the indigenous Ami tribe.
·       He has three sisters, all graduates of either the Air Force or Naval Academies. (Skip is a retired Army Colonel.)
·       One sister is a former Mrs. Colorado.
·       Great-great uncle, Bernie Trafford, was an All-American football player and team captain for Harvard in the 1890s and played quarterback in the famous flying wedge formation that was eventually banned.
·       Was baptized in the Jordan River by his grandfather, a well-known pastor and senator from Taiwan.
The tidbits don't stop there. Archer can play the cello and ukulele. He's a third-generation Eagle Scout. Oh, and he once stepped on legendary Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps' foot.
"I was 11 or 12 years old," Archer recalled. "It was the first time I'd ever been in the Olympic training center in Colorado. I was just in the lunch line. There was a guy next to me in a hoodie. I was just being a kid. I stepped on this guy's toe and he was like, 'Hey'. Then he just walked off. I was just like, 'My bad'. Everyone else was like, 'Dude, that was Michael Phelps' toe.'"
As intriguing as all of that is, the most jaw-dropping component of Archer's past is the activity that earned him the name he now goes by.
Targeting Success
Archer Trafford hadn't been walking too long when his archery career began.
"My dad taught me how to shoot a bow when I was three years old," Archer said.
In the Trafford family, archery is just a way of life. Skip was a national champion and First-Team All-American in archery at Arizona, and a nine-time world champion. Archer's mother, Charlene, is a four-time world champion and archery world record holder herself.
Archer's sisters hold world field archery records as well, and as a whole, the Trafford family has won 25 world archery titles on four continents.
As for Archer individually, he's traveled to more than 80 countries and has competed in 15 of them. He's won two world titles, been on 11 U.S. national teams and won numerous national championships while training for the Olympics.
Archer had another big interest too though.
"I've always had a passion for football," Archer said. "It was archery first, but then junior and senior year of high school, I had two paths in front of me. I could go train for the Olympics and take maybe some online classes for college. Basically, all I'd do would have been shoot bow and arrow every day. But then again, you're like, where does it end? There's always going to be someone better than you. Archery is just going to sort of end. I was just like, 'Should I do that, or get an education and while I'm getting an education, play football?' I was like, 'I like football'. That ultimately ended my career in archery."
Now you might wonder how that decision went over in the Trafford household. It seems like giving up archery might not be so easy when the activity basically runs in your blood. Turns out, it wasn't much of an issue.
The Traffords are deeply rooted in their Christian faith. With that as the focus, Archer's mother and father stood firmly behind their son's choice to play football.
"All my wife and I ever wanted in our four children was for them to honor God throughout their lives and become children of God who are devout in their love of God, family and country," Skip said. "We used archery to develop our children's core character while growing up, but not necessarily to be a sport they pursued their entire life. Seeing [Archer] so very happy with the Bulldogs means everything to us, just as it does seeing our three girls and their academy graduate husbands serving our country and keeping us free. Whether [Archer] had a bow in his hand or a football, we are content as parents knowing he has God in his heart every day from the time he wakes up in the morning through when he dons that maroon uniform in the afternoon."
The Path To MSU
So how exactly did Archer wind up at Mississippi State? Even after Archer decided on football, it was still a winding road that led him to Starkville.
First, Archer was an outstanding high school punter at C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was First-Team All-State Academic and First-Team All-Division and an All-City punter.
At 17 years old, Archer received six congressional nominations to three of the service academies but chose Air Force and elected to attend Air Force Prep first. Archer spent one year at Air Force Prep and was the primary punter and kicker. He had seven punts over 65 yards, including a 100-yard punt that earned him a vehicle courtesy of Skip.
"I didn't have a vehicle there," Archer recalled. "My dad was like, 'If you hit a punt that goes 70 yards or more, then I'll bring the car to you.' Literally the day after, we're backed up to the one-inch line…Everyone is trash talking me. The ends are saying, 'I'm going to block this kick.' I'm just standing there like, 'OK', then I absolutely destroy it. It probably went like 80 yards in the air then rolled back, through and past the endzone for the touchback. It was probably one of my most favorite punts."
It was one of the many punts off of Archer's foot that demonstrated his tremendous potential. He'd move on from Air Force Prep to the Air Force Academy roster as a preferred walk-on. However, he wasn't eligible to play as he missed time from school to be by his mom's side after she endured a life-threatening car crash. After his sophomore season at the Air Force Academy, Archer resigned, seeking a better opportunity to pursue his goals.
Archer looked for a new football home. In the meantime, he attended Kohl's Professional Football Kicking Camps and excelled, winning every competition he entered.
Archer decided to attend another camp as well. This one was at Mississippi State. That's when Archer really caught the attention of MSU special teams coach Matt Brock.
"Archer came to a camp and did a good job," Brock said. "He had great hangtime, great distance and everything you look for in a punter. And he's a [left-footed punter], which is intriguing. I hadn't had a lefty since I was [coaching at] Bowling Green. We had an All-American lefty there. So that intrigued me. Then just his demeanor and approach was intriguing. He comes from a military background with his father. He has a competitive background in archery. They've all competed at a high, high level. To me, when you get a guy from that type of family situation, he's probably going to be pretty focused and driven. All of that is a bonus."
Ultimately, Archer was given the chance to be a Bulldog and jumped on the opportunity. Then, in the third game of this season, he became Mississippi State's starting punter. The moment was the culmination of Archer's unique past.
"My wife and I trained [Archer] and his sisters for dual sport competition from his earliest memory," Skip said. "Early on we encouraged him to kick soccer balls left-footed and shoot right-handed because of our belief that left-footed kicks are harder to catch and [those individuals] tend to be stronger kickers. Our thinking was if he kicked or punted a football or soccer ball with a lower body focus and shot field archery with its upper body focus, he likely could excel in two sports while avoiding injuries that could affect one or the other. This approach took him to many world archery championships while also helping him excel in high school football as a kicker and on to the Air Force Academy…It was his decision to follow his football passion to college and leave archery in the rear-view window. But of course, archery shaped his football mental game, so now he has the best of both worlds, which is what a punter needs on game day."
What He Wants To Do
After everything, Archer Trafford is now where he wants to be, doing what he loves and chose to do. He's on the big stage, playing SEC football at Mississippi State, and he's shining.
Coming into the Tennessee State game this weekend, Archer has punted 19 times this season. Close to half of his punts (seven to be exact) have pinned opponents inside the 20. Six have been fair caught. He already has a couple of punts of more than 50 yards – including a season-best 57-yarder – and odds are, more will come.
Archer's experiences have shaped him for this moment.
"He is the guy you want as your wingman or teammate," Skip said of his son. "He just doesn't flinch under pressure, doesn't worry about distractions and has unbelievable focus and sense of purpose. All of this was honed on the archery field of battle through over a decade of world class shooting."
Archer indeed doesn't shy away from adversity. In fact, he embraces it, both on Saturdays and on the practice fields as he fights each week for his spot on the depth chart.
"It's always a challenge every single day," Archer said. "My job is always threatened. That's just how it is. Any day, the job could be taken away from you. It's all about consistency and how you perform…But I love competition. My whole family knows it. All my friends know it. Competition is what I absolutely love."
So Archer will keep right on competing, just as he's essentially always done. His event of choice might have changed, but Archer Trafford is still aiming to hit his own personal bullseye. So far, so good.
"This is what he wants to do," Brock said. "He wants to do it at a high level and it takes a level of commitment and focus. The thing about the punting position, which is very similar to archery, is you have to do the same thing and be very, very repetitive and disciplined enough to duplicate your technique in order to be successful. I think naturally, that has carried over."
Adds Skip: "It took a strong man for [Archer] to let go, and let God, and inform my wife and I of his intentions to resign from one of the hardest colleges to get into and trust in God's plan and pursue his goal of Power Five punting…[Archer] personally set up punting tryouts with major schools around the country and then got in his car and drove to them one by one, including several SEC schools and most often drove all night, stepped on the field the next day and put on an awesome display of accuracy and distance. Fortunately, he saved the best for last and chose MSU in the process.
"Every decision our children has made has been rooted in our faith and belief that [God] has a plan and everything will turn out fine if you keep the faith and stay the course."
Archer now continues his one-of-a-kind journey. And Bulldogs everywhere are fortunate enough to get to come along for the ride.
