Gunner Olszewski

Olszewski was not selected in the 2019 NFL Draft. After the draft, he was invited to participate in rookie minicamps by the Minnesota Vikings, who used him at cornerback,[6] and the New England Patriots, who used him at wide receiver.[7] On May 23, 2019, after the retirement of Jared Veldheer gave the Patriots a roster opening, they signed Olszewski to an undrafted free agent contract.[8] The three-year deal had a $2,500 signing bonus.[9]

On August 31, the day that teams were required to trim their preseason 90-man rosters to 53-man rosters, the Patriots told Olszewski that morning that he would be waived; instead, the Patriots kept him after trading cornerback Keion Crossen less than an hour before the deadline.[10]

He made his NFL debut in the Patriots' 33–3 Week 1 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, returning two punts for 35 yards (averaging 17.5 yards per return).[11] He recorded his first receptions in Week 6 against the New York Giants; targeted three times, he had two receptions, for five and 29 yards.[12] He was placed on injured reserve on November 19, 2019 with ankle and hamstring injuries.[13]

On September 12, 2020, Olszewski was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury.[14] He was activated on October 5, 2020, before the team's Week 4 game against Kansas City; because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the minimum stay on IR for the 2020 season was reduced to three games.[15]

In Week 12, against the Arizona Cardinals, Olszewski returned a punt 82 yards to the end zone, but it was called back because of an illegal block by linebacker Anfernee Jennings; after the penalty, it was recorded as a 58-yard return.[16] A week later, against the Los Angeles Chargers, Olszewski had three punt returns totaling 145 yards. His first went for 70 yards and was the first touchdown of his career; he followed it up with returns of 14 and 61 yards. He also added the first receiving touchdown of his career in the fourth quarter, catching a 38-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham in garbage time during the Patriots' 45–0 shutout.[16] Olszewski was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in Week 13.[17] He finished the season with a league-high 346 punt return yards on 20 returns. His average of 17.3 yards per return was a franchise record and the second-highest total since the AFL-NFL merger (after Leodis McKelvin's 18.7 yards per return in 2012).[18]

In January 2021 Olszewski was named to the 2020 AP All-Pro first team as a punt returner. He is the first Patriots punt returner so honored.[19] He received 28 of 50 votes at punt returner, as well as one vote for special teamer.[20] One voter, Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders, noted that Olszewski's punt returns had twice the value of any other punt returner.[21]