:John Teltschik

{{Short description|American football player (born 1964)}}

{{Use American English|date=May 2024}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = John Teltschik

| number = 10

| position = Punter

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1964|3|8}}

| birth_place = Floresville, Texas, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 2

| weight_lb = 209

| high_school = Tivy (Kerrville, Texas)

| college = Texas

| draftyear = 1986

| draftround = 9

| draftpick = 249
Chicago Bears

| pastteams =

• Chicago Bears (1986)*
• Philadelphia Eagles ({{NFL Year|1986|1990}})

| highlights =

• NFL punting yards leader (1986)
• PFWA All-Rookie Team (1986)
• Second-team All-American (1983)
• First-team All-SWC (1983)
• Southwest Conference Champion (1983)

| statlabel1 = Punts

| statvalue1 = 345

| statlabel2 = Punting yards

| statvalue2 = 13,828

| statlabel3 = Punting avg

| statvalue3 = 40.1

| pfr = TeltJo20

}}

John Robert Teltschik (born March 8, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL).

Born in Floresville, Texas, Teltschik played scholastically at Tivy High School in Kerrville, Texas.{{cite web| url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/TeltJo20.htm |title=John Teltschik Stats |website=Pro Football Reference |access-date=June 1, 2024}}

He played collegiately for the Texas Longhorns, where he was the starting punter for the 1983-85 seasons.{{cite web| url=https://www.nfl.com/players/john-teltschik/ |title=John Teltschik Stats |website=NFL.com |access-date=June 1, 2024}} As a sophomore, he was honored by United Press International as a second-team All-American, first team all-conference playing for a team that won the Southwest Conference Championship.{{cite news |title=Offensive Titans Nebraska, BYU Dominate UPI All-America |author=Dave Raffo |newspaper=Tyrone Daily Herald |date=December 8, 1983 |page=5 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4574714/offensive_titans_nebraska_byu_dominate/ |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} During his four years at Texas, the team went to (and lost) four straight bowl games. He set the school record for highest punting average in a game against Texas Tech in 1984 (surpassed by Michael Dickson in 2016) during which he kicked a 73 yard punt.{{cite web |title=Texas Longhorn Football Record Book |url=https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/2024/8/8/Football_Record_Book.pdf |access-date=16 September 2024}}

Teltschik was selected by the Chicago Bears in the ninth round of the 1986 NFL draft.{{Cite web |title=1986 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1986/draft.htm |access-date=October 3, 2023 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} He was cut by the Bears late in training camp, and was immediately picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles.{{cite news |title=John Teltschik signs with Eagles |newspaper=Kerrville Mountain Sun |date=August 30, 1986 |page=five |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/kerrville-mountain-sun-john-teltschik-si/148484428/ |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} He spent his entire four-year career with the Eagles,{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0mtIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WFYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4459,3190068&dq=john-teltschik&hl=en|title=The Victoria Advocate - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=April 11, 2016}} leading the NFL in punts in 1986, 1987, and 1988 and punting yards in 1986.{{Cite web |url=https://www.profootballarchives.com/playert/telt00200.html |title=John Teltschik Stats |website=Pro Football Archives |access-date=June 1, 2024 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927194555/https://www.profootballarchives.com/playert/telt00200.html |archive-date=September 27, 2020}}

During his rookie year, he led the league in punts with 108 - the most ever for a rookie and 3rd most in NFL history. That year he was named the NFL All Rookie team and was the Eagles special teams MVP. He led the league in punts again the next year with 82, including a single-game NFL record 15 against the New York Giants (surpassed by Leo Araguz the next year); and was again named the Eagles special teams MVP. In 1998, he co-led the league with 98 punts. During his first three seasons he had 288 punts, handled some kickoffs, held for some placekicks, and made some tackles.{{cite web |title=Where are they now? P John Teltschik |url=https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/where-are-they-now-john-teltschik |access-date=16 September 2024}}

In 1989, he injured his knee making a tackle. He played 7 more games before being pulled for the injury. He had 2 surgeries on his knee and it ended his career.

Teltschik returned to Texas and got into the home construction business before buying and operating a tree farm in Tioga, Texas.