Football can be an incredibly emotional game. It’s an extremely physical sport, filled with momentum changes, big plays, and a lengthy schedule that can become a mental and physical grind. It’s easy to become emotionally worn out by the highs and lows of a season.
Then there’s John Haggerty.
No matter the score, the tedium of practice, or whatever distraction the club faces, the Toronto Argonauts punter brings the same tools to work every day, a strong work ethic and a calm demeanor.
Oh ya, and skill. Lots and lots of skill.
The 30-year-old Australian is in his fourth season with the Argos and has gotten better and better each year. Last season he set the Argos all-time single season record with an average kick of 50.3 yards, and so far in 2025 he’s averaged 50.6 yards per boot.
“I feel like on any given day I should be averaging over 50 with the strength of my leg,” Haggerty told Argonauts.ca. “Every time I connect with the ball, the mishits are going 48, so anything over 50 is a standard for me.”
He doesn’t say that in a boastful or arrogant way, far from it, but that’s where Haggerty’s game is right now. He took another run at an NFL job in the off-season, which actually set him back a bit in terms of the CFL.
“Because I was trying for the NFL I switched over to the old Dukes (the Wilson NFL ball) for a couple months. In switching back I found it was a struggle going back to the CFL balls. Hitting the Duke type of balls is just so different.”
Why is that? Be prepared for some punter minutiae you probably hadn’t thought of before.
“Our balls in the CFL are usually fatter so they’re harder to hold,” he explained. “NFL balls, the ends are a bit more pointy, like a quarterback ball, so they’re a bit easier to hold, so just catching them and holding them is completely different with each ball. And then the sweet spot is a little bit bigger on the CFL ball, but the mishits aren’t as good as an NFL ball mishit, so it’s just trying to find the fine tuning of the ball again.”
Despite his success at getting the ball downfield, the Argos overall punting game hasn’t been stellar. The team’s net average is, to be blunt, not good. It’s a league low 34.7 yards, while Haggerty has yet to pin his opponents inside their own 10-yard line, the only punter in the league that hasn’t done that, but something he did eight times a year ago to tie for the league lead.
Injuries to key special teams players like Jack Cassar and Brian Harelimana have been a contributing factor, but it’s something the Boatmen must clean up.
“We’re a team, right,” said Haggerty. “I’ve got to put us in a better spot to cover, and the coverage has to make the plays when the ball is there. The inside-the-10 part, we’ve only really had two punts that have gone inside the 10 where we’re trying to pin them, everything else has really been open field, so it’s a bit harder to pin them inside the 10 when you’d have to hit it 80 yards to pin it. That’s not so much of a concern, but the net is definitely something we have to better as a team.”
There is little doubt that Haggerty is the best punter in Argo history, high praise when you consider he was preceded by players like Noel Prefontaine, Hank Ilesic, Dave Mann, Joe Krol, and Bob Isbister.
He holds the Argos record with a career average of 49.1 yards and the aforementioned single-season mark of 50.3. Last year he broke two other records, averaging 58.9 yards per punt in Calgary, the highest single-game average with a minimum of eight punts, while shattering the CFL Grey Cup record with a 54.8-yard effort against Winnipeg, besting the previous record by a whopping 5.3 yards.
His 88-yard punt in Calgary last year was the league’s longest, while he has an 83 yarder to his credit this year.
Aside from the team’s record at this stage, life is going well for the likeable Aussie. His wife and kids live in Toronto during the season, while there’s been a pipeline of family making the long trek to visit, helping keep Qantas Airlines in business.
“My wife’s family was here for the first six weeks helping us out,” Haggerty explained. “Then they left, and my sister and her husband have come over, this is their honeymoon, they just got married in the off-season and my sister is pregnant with her third baby, so it’s been nice having them. Then they leave and my other sister comes for two weeks, and then she leaves, and my mom comes for a month, so we’ve got an open door of family flowing in.”
Haggerty is luckier than some of his teammates and coaches. For many, their family remains in their hometown while they live in Toronto for six months. Family visits are huge for those players and coaches mentally, as is the opportunity for Haggerty to be a husband and dad on a daily basis.
“It’s awesome,” said a smiling Haggerty. “The first thing, I go home and the kids come running to the door. It’s amazing. You just forget about football; you watch film for a little bit and you’re on dad duty. You take them swimming, you take them to the park, and you just forget about football. It’s awesome, I really enjoy being a dad.”