Former Merritt Island Mustang, First-Round MLB Selection Mason Denaburg to Punt for UCF Knights
By Jordan Rocco // May 10, 2025
Standout two-sport athlete at Merritt Island High, was selected in first round of the 2018 MLB Draft by Washington Nationals
From the Mound to the Gridiron: Mason Denaburg Finds New Life with UCF Football
ORLANDO, FLORIDA — For Mason Denaburg, the dream of making it to the Major Leagues burned brightly for years.
A standout two-sport athlete at Merritt Island High School, Denaburg was selected in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals, with a future on the pitcher’s mound seemingly laid out in front of him.
But fate had other plans.
A series of injuries and five surgeries — including Tommy John and a hip labrum repair — prevented the promising right-hander from ever reaching the big leagues. Now 25, Denaburg is rewriting his athletic story, this time on the football field.
Denaburg will join the University of Central Florida football team as a punter, reigniting a skill he hadn’t seriously pursued since high school.
His last full season on the gridiron came in 2016 when he earned First Team All-State honors for his punting abilities. Though football took a backseat during his baseball career, the game had always lingered in his mind.
“It’s been a long road with baseball,” Denaburg said. “I’ve been hurt a lot. My brother joked, ‘Hey, you should mess around and just punt.’ It kind of started from there.”
That brother, Brady Denaburg — a college kicker who transferred from Syracuse to Minnesota — planted the idea last December, shortly after Mason underwent surgery to repair his hip. It was the latest setback in a line of injuries that had plagued his professional baseball career.
Facing free agency with no baseball contract in hand, and a clock ticking on his college eligibility, Mason took a leap.
He began punting again for the first time in nearly seven years and quickly realized he still had the touch. With encouragement from Brady, Denaburg fully committed to football training this winter, working with former UCF kicker Dylan Barnas, now a private coach for special teams players in Central Florida.
Barnas, also a Merritt Island alum, saw potential in Denaburg and sent clips to UCF special teams coordinator Pete Alamar. Although Denaburg admits his initial technique needed work, months of training yielded significant improvement.
By April, Denaburg had visited UCF spring practice, where he met Alamar and was asked to submit fresh game film. Within hours of sending it, Denaburg got a text back — UCF was interested.
Soon after, he visited again, met key staff members, including head coach Scott Frost, and made it official.
“This is the perfect situation,” Denaburg said. “My girlfriend is in Windermere, my family’s just 40 minutes away, and I’m enjoying myself for the first time in a long time.”
Denaburg’s high school football career was cut short his senior year due to a commitment with USA Baseball, and recruiting interest in him as a football player was limited since most programs expected him to pursue baseball at the University of Florida, where he originally committed.
Now, he’s picking up where he left off, this time with purpose and clarity. He trains regularly with Barnas, focusing on refining his punting form. Denaburg favors a traditional style over rugby-style punts and will join a competition this summer with returning punter Michael Carter and Ohio State transfer Anthony Venneri.
“I know it’s a competition, just like anything else,” he said. “It’s no different than baseball — someone is going to win the job.”
Despite the unconventional route, Denaburg says he’s mentally recharged and ready for the challenge. After years of physical and emotional battles in baseball, the renewed joy of athletic growth is something he doesn’t take for granted.
“I’m enjoying going to the field. I’m enjoying going to the gym. I’m enjoying getting better,” Denaburg said. “For the first time in a long time.”
And for Alamar, who’s giving a long-shot punter a chance, Denaburg is determined to deliver.
“There aren’t many coaches who would take a kid who hasn’t punted in seven years and say, ‘Let’s give him a shot,’” Denaburg said. “But he did — and I’m going to do everything I can to prove him right.”
WATCH: Lexy Denaburg’s Unmatched Dominance Earned Her Early Induction into Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame:
ABOVE VIDEO: Lexy Denaburg, Mason and Brady’s sister, led the Merritt Island Mustangs to state championships in indoor and beach volleyball and earned All-American honors in both. She was the most dominant prep force in her sport in Brevard County history.
