John Lafferty

Position:
Punter
Height:
5-10
Weight:
180
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Valdese, N.C.
High School:
East Burke

2002: Played in all 12 games and was Carolina’s starting punter in 11 contests • Punted 61 times for 2,235 yards, an average of 36.6 yards per game • Placed 13 kicks inside the 20-yard line • Had four punts over 50 yards, including a season-long 58-yarder vs. Georgia Tech • Also had a 50-yard punt at Virginia, a 50-yard punt at Wake Forest and a 51-yard boot vs. Maryland • Punted a season-high eight times for a 34.2 yard average at Arizona State • Had five punts for a season-best 40.8-yard average at Wake Forest.

2001 • Sophomore Season
Started every game at punter • Punted 67 times for 2,656 yards, an average of 39.6 yards per kick • His 67 punts were the most since Brian Schmitz had 74 in 1999 and were the third-most since 1990 • Placed 15 kicks inside the 20 yard line • Had seven punts over 50 yards, including a career-long 64-yarder against Virginia • Punted nine times for a 44.0 yard average at Oklahoma in the first game of the season • Had a 52-yard punt vs. the Sooners • Punted a season-high 12 times for a 40.7 yard average at Texas, including a 54-yarder • Also had a 52-yard punt against NC State, a 55-yard punt against East Carolina and a 59-yard punt against SMU • Booted eight kicks for a 38.6 yard average against Auburn in the Peach Bowl.

2000 • Freshman Season
Started three games at punter • Started the first game of his career in Carolina’s season-opening 30-9 victory over Tulsa • Punted two times for 68 yards (34.0 average) vs. the Golden Hurricane • Did not start again until the NC State game, five weeks later • Was sidelined for the last four games of the season with mononucleosis • Finished the year with 20 punts for 708 yards, an average of 35.4 per punt • Had a long punt of 47 yards vs. NC State • Dropped six punts inside the opponents’ 20-yard line • Only nine of his 20 punts were returned and only three were returned outside the 20-yard line.

East Burke High School
Earned all-conference honors in five sports at East Burke High School • Was all-state as a kicker and played in the Shrine Bowl as a senior • Kicked the game-winning field goal to beat Freedom High School • Was a three-time all-conference kicker • Also was all-conference in soccer, tennis, swimming and track • Was a four-time all-region soccer player and was an all-state selection on the state’s Olympic Development Team • Was the conference player of the year in tennis as a junior and senior • Competed in the long jump and triple jump and ran on the 4x400 and 4x800 relays in track.

Personal
Born John Connor Lafferty on Sept. 13, 1980 in Valdese, N.C. • Favorite athlete is Michael Jordan • Favorite part of punting is seeing a return man signal for a fair catch • Favorite former Tar Heel player is Brandon Spoon • His parents both graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UNC • His father, John M. Lafferty, played freshman tennis at UNC and his grandfather, John W. Lafferty, played basketball at Davidson • Likes to ski, camp out and play video games • Greatest athletic moment was the fake punt in the Peach Bowl • Is an Eagle Scout • Plays the piano • Majoring in psychology.