A three-time Pro Bowl selection, the 33-year-old Sauerbrun, who has previously played for the Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs, Carolina Panthers, and most recently the Denver Broncos, comes with both a big leg and considerable baggage.
While with Carolina, Sauerbrun became the first punter since the 1970 merger to lead his conference in punting three straight seasons, averaging 45.9 yards from 2001 to 2003, the highest gross average for any three-year period in NFL history. He topped the league in gross average in 2001 and 2002. His 2001 average of 47.5 yards was the highest since 1963.
Last season punting for the Broncos, Sauerbrun averaged 43.8 yards per kick, eighth best in the league.
However, he was released by the Broncos Oct. 10 after sitting out the first four games of the season while serving a league-mandated suspension for testing positive for an illegal performance-enhancing substance. Sauerbrun tested positive for the dietary supplement ephedra. The league banned ephedra in 2001, following the heatstroke death of Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Korey Stringer during training camp that summer.
It wasn't the first time Sauerbrun was linked with illegal performance enhancers. A March 2005 "60 Minutes" report said that Sauerbrun and two other Panthers had a South Carolina doctor fill prescriptions for banned substances weeks before Carolina played the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Sauerbrun, who has never failed an NFL steroid test, was alleged to have received testosterone cream and the injectable steroid stanozolol. While his name was sullied, he was not suspended by the league and did not face legal action.
That was not the case when he was arrested for drunken driving in December 2004. Sauerbrun pleaded guilty to driving while impaired and was fined $100 and placed on unsupervised probation for a year.
Sauerbrun was not available for comment yesterday and Patriots coach Bill Belichick dodged questions about Sauerbrun's past transgressions, vaguely referencing his suspension earlier this year.
