By Jason Wilde
Channel3000.com's Packer Insider from ESPN Madison

GREEN BAY. Wis. -- When Tim Masthay’s cell phone rang on Saturday, he immediately recognized the 920 number on the caller ID. He knew it was special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum calling.

What he didn’t know what whether Slocum was going to deliver good news or bad news about the Green Bay Packers’ punting competition between Masthay and Chris Bryan.

“Coach Slocum called me mid-afternoon on Saturday, and when the phone rang, I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to be the axe or congratulations,’” Masthay said Monday. “It turned out to be congratulations.”

Indeed it did. After taking a slight lead with a towering punt against Indianapolis on Aug. 26, then following it up with strong practices in advance of last Thursday’s preseason finale at Kansas City, Masthay clearly won the job and will be the Packers’ punter when the regular season begins Sunday at Philadelphia.

After two years of sub-par punting from Derrick Frost (12 games in 2008) and Jeremy Kapinos (final four games of ’08 and all of ’09), coach Mike McCarthy went into the offseason adamant that the team upgrade its punter. And in Masthay, McCarthy believes the Packers did just that.

“I feel very good. (It was a) tough decision, and Tim was the winner of the competition,” McCarthy said. “Tim’s body of work as far as everything involved – the holding, kicking off – that was definitely a bonus, because it really came down to the punting performance. We really wanted to make sure that we laid out as level a competitive playing field that we possibly could. I felt we accomplished that, and we felt that Tim was slightly ahead of Chris.

“I think he’s going to improve. I think being around Chris probably helped him improve, particularly in managing the football inside the 10-yard line. I’m excited about Tim, I’m excited about the progress he’s going to make.

“(He’s got a) very steady personality, (I) like his work ethic. And I feel very strongly that we’re going to be much improved in the punting performance part of it this year.”

Both Masthay and Bryan had eight punts in preseason action. Masthay averaged 44.9 gross yards and 34.0 net yards, with one touchback and one punt inside the 20-yard line and a long of 56 yards. Bryan averaged 42.0 gross yards, 38.6 net yards and had a long of 57 yards.

Bryan, the former Australian Rules Football player, wasn’t out of work for long. He worked out for Tampa Bay on Monday and must have impressed the Buccaneers, who released sixth-round pick Brent Bowden to sign Bryan to the 53-man roster. Bryan figures to punt for the Buccaneers Sunday against Cleveland.

“I have a lot of respect for Chris Bryan. I think Chris is an ascending punter also,” McCarthy said. “I felt that way all along.”

But the Packers went with Masthay, whom they originally brought in for a workout last October but stuck with Kapinos, who finished dead last in the 32-team NFL in net punting last season. To be fair to the Packers, Masthay himself admitted that he improved immensely during the six-month competition, which began in March.

“Throughout the whole process, (I) told myself not to think too much about (the competition) and just to come out and try to perform my best,” said Masthay, who had never faced as stiff competition as he faced from Bryan, facing only token training-camp battles at the University of Kentucky. “I guess I thought about it a little bit, but I really was pretty focused on each practice, each punt period, each holding period, whatever. Just focusing on doing the things I could control.”

Masthay likely won the job with his 53-yard punt against Indianapolis, which had a 4.96-second hang time and was muffed by the Colts and recovered by the Packers in the end zone for a touchdown, and his performance in practice several days later, when he clearly outperformed Bryan.

Masthay helped his cause by being the better holder with kicker Mason Crosby – something he did for two years at Kentucky – and by showing versatility by kicking off late in the preseason as well.

Still, it was his punting that won him the job, and he’ll have to build on his consistent training camp and preseason to keep the gig.

“I really didn’t have many highs and lows here since March, which was nice. I was mentally and physically and emotionally able to be more stable because of that,” said Masthay, who was cut last preseason by the Colts before punting in an exhibition game. “That’s what punting and kicking – really any position in the NFL – is about: consistency. So I’m sure it’s a confidence-builder to have been pretty consistent in the offseason and now I just need to carry that into the regular season.”

In fact, the biggest adjustment Masthay will have to make is finding his new locker. After spending camp in the auxiliary locker room – nicknamed “The Green Mile” by players – he moved to the main area Monday, lockering between long-snapper Brett Goode and Crosby, just across the entryway from quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

“It was different walking in today and walking over here,” Masthay said. “When I came out of the showers, I almost walked back into the other locker room. It’s nice to be out here.”