BOULDER — Dimitri Stanley was his quarterback’s best friend on Friday night.
That may come as a surprise, given that the wide receiver only caught one pass and gained seven yards, but Stanley made an impact in his other starting role: punt returner.
“A lot of people don’t really have the will to do it because you can’t really see the people in front of you when that ball is in the air,” Stanley said Friday “I just stay calm and trust my athleticism.”
Trusting his athleticism worked against Northern Colorado on Friday, when Stanley returned three punts and picked up 23 yards per return. For reference, if Stanley keeps up that pace for the rest of the season, he’ll take second place on the Pac-12’s all-time leading yards per punt return leaderboard.
“Some of my teammates were saying on the sideline, ‘they’re gonna stop kicking to you in a second,” Stanley said. “There was just a lot of plays to be made on the field out there.”
One of the teammates Stanley talked to on the sideline was running back Jarek Broussard.
“He was giving me a couple of tips on the sideline on how to make my returns more explosive, just with the cuts and some of the stuff that he does at the running back position,” Stanley said. “I’m always trying to learn, always watching guys in the league.”
Stanley has one returner role model that stands above the rest: his father.
Walter Stanley was a wingback for Colorado in the early 80s, and he also served as the team’s punt returner. The elder Stanley recorded two return touches during his time in Boulder.
Stanley went on to spend seven seasons in the NFL as a return specialist. He returned 1,833 combined punts and kicks, including one punt return touchdown when he played for the Green Bay Packers.
“I just grew up loving punt return,” Dimitri Stanley said. “It’s just explosive plays. It flips the field. It’s everything that you want in a game; that excitement.”
While Stanley, a preseason honorable mention all-conference receiver, needs to produce more in the passing game for this team to be successful, his ability to flip the field on every return is incredibly valuable in college football.
“If the pass game isn’t working, I’ve got to do something with the ball in my hands every chance I get,” Stanley said. “I’m glad that I was able to do a little bit, gain a couple more yards off those returns. Hopefully I can keep on doing that throughout the season.
