There's a time honored tradition during football practice, if the lineman does a non-lineman thing, the team avoids conditioning that day. That was exactly Justin Fuente's proposition to the Hokies on Sunday.
If @tim_settle drops it, we're running.If he catches it, we're not running. pic.twitter.com/a24LnCn14Tβ HokiesFB (@HokiesFB) December 18, 2016
Reminder, that's 328 pound DT Tim Settle gracefully fielding and advancing a punt.
"He looked pretty good," Fuente said after Tech's practice Monday about Settle's return and the selection process. "Well it depends on if you want them to run after practice or not. I had decent confidence in Tim catching it. Plus, he's a guy everybody loves, so we threw him back there. It was not an easy punt to catch, either. It was up in the rafters. He did a good job. Obviously everyone was very appreciative of his efforts."

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Love. This. Team.
This team is fired up.
Good times and I love the team juice too.
Ugh 10 days seems so far away.
Tim Settle is the hero we've needed since the good days.
But he caught it with his body, and he didn't high point the ball, and he could improve his draft stock if he......
Oh wait, we're not talking about Bucky and Ford in this thread?
I'll see myself out.
No, and we're not talking about Lawson, either.
Never let it die!!!
Why not? I mean with Big Tim catching balls like this, he could seriously jeopardize Lawson's move from QB to TE and force him to transfer.
We can be sure he'll never Settle for a fair catch
Dude if he did this in game the interweb would break
He'd have a real shot at the Piesman
OMG....that would be awesome!!
I thought he fielded a squib kick at some point this year.
He did. ND I think
A couple of them. One against ND and one earlier in the year (which I think he fumbled but recovered.)
How many guys would wet themselves when Big Tim came barreling down the field with that punt?
I'd pay money to see that. Heck, I'll join the Hokie Club if I see that in the Belk Bowl!
#fatguypuntreturn
I'd love to see a kicking team try to tackle a 328lb player running full speed after fielding a punt. Yes, this needs to happen in the Belk Bowl. We need to end 2016 on a good note
He might be better off returning a kickoff. Then he can get up to full speed by the time the coverage team arrives. On a punt return, the coverage team might be able to stop him from getting up to speed.
I pity the gunner that tries to fly in and tackle Tim Settle.
[ gunner bounces off Settle ]
Big Tim: "That's cute."
Big Tim: [ scores TD, celebrates wildly ]
I am no physics major (history) but if my limited knowledge of elementary physics is right, a 190ish pound gunner would have to be running around a 2.6 40 to generate enough moment of impact force to take down Settle straight up, if Settle gets up to speed.
Seriously. That's a whole lot of physics coming at you.
LOL! I love seeing Coach Fuente (and the other coaches, too) walking away grinning and laughing. :)
They probably didn't think he'd actually catch it.
No Settle has fielded punts all year in practice
Exactly!
This was obviously a PR ploy to stop people from talking about Wakeyleaks... /s
What was the benefit of telling people about this video though? /s
That's the look of a coach who made a bet while hoping he'd lose it.
I liked the "ups" after the catch!! Hey Buzz!!!!
I would give my life savings to the HC if they could arrange it for the entire Duke basketball team to one by one challenge Tim Settle in the paint with Tim driving to the basket.
I want to see Big Tim return one against Arkansas...that will be a sight.
I don't think that I would ever bet against Tim...
ever.
It's been a while since I can remember enjoying a groups of VT people so much in terms of just making me proud to be a fan.
I like how he tries to jump into his teammates to celebrate.
Wisely, they do not meet him in the air for a chest bump, as someone might have died.
glad you fixed it. I was trying to figure out what a teammage was and all my googling just brought up LARP-ing...
FAM!!!