A punter with his own Web site

Jake Novak’s blog profile proclaims that he “is one of the most prolific satirists on the planet.”

With an email address such as jakesjokes@gmail.com, I’ll have to take his word on that. Apparently Novak has written jokes for Letterman and Leno and is featured regularly in Newsday. It’s his other interest that recently caught my attention. Novak loves Columbian University football and lets people know about it on his Roar Lions Roar blog.

Novak broke the news that Loyola All-State punter Paul Delaney has committed to play for the LIons next season and will join former Ramblers teammate Alex Kominskas.

But Delaney was on the cutting edge in terms of his recruitment. Division I football programs don’t offer much to punters and place kickers in the way of scholarships, so Delaney created his own Web site with the help of his father Joseph and a family friend.

Delaney, a Palatine resident, has covered everything. His site includes contact information, excerpts from newspaper articles written about him and videos from Loyola games and the Kohl’s Kicking Camp he attended last summer.

In the video age, college recruiters won’t make an offer until seeing a prospect on video.

“Highlight films are big,” said Delaney, a left-footed kicker. “They look at stats, but they look at film to make sure the information you give them is right. On film, you can see technique.”

Delaney chose Columbia over Western Michigan. Illinois wanted him to walk-on.

Delaney agrees that personal Web sites might be the next big trend in football recruiting, particularly for kicking specialists. You have to do what ever you can to get your name out there.

His Web site is actually the second Web site project involving his family. His father also established a Web site for his brother Robert’s freshman baseball team at Loyola.

“It started over the summer. One of my dad’s friends helped with the recruiting process and set it up with him. We put game film week to week and it’s updated there,” Delaney said.