The San Francisco 49ers made a move at punter on Saturday, agreeing to a contract 30-year-old veteran Corliss Waitman while apparently parting ways with Thomas Morstead, who said his farewells on social media after spending one season with the team.
Waitman (6-2, 210) is a unique player who comes to the 49ers with a fascinating background. Here is what to know about the player who appears set to take on the punting duties for the 49ers this season.
NFL Journeyman
Waitman has been around the block so far in the NFL, as the 49ers will be his ninth NFL stint between six teams since 2020. He joined the NFL as an undrafted free agent signing of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020 after averaging 42.7 yards on 158 career punts at the University of South Alabama. He was a member of the practice squad in Pittsburgh in 2020, then he spent time with the Raiders in the 2021 preseason before joining the Patriots' practice squad in late 2021. He caught on with the Steelers again before the end of the season and made his NFL debut when asked to fill in for starter Pressley Harvin, who was on bereavement leave.
Waitman was selected in the third round of the 2022 CFL Draft, but he stayed with the NFL, this time with the Denver Broncos. This would be his first full season in the NFL as he played in all 17 games and averaged 46.6 yards on a league-leading 96 punts.
In 2023, Waitman was back with the Patriots, this time during the offseason and preseason along with a stay on the practice squad. In early 2024, Waitman was signed by the Chicago Bears and stuck with the team through the preseason. He then wound up with the Steelers yet again when starting punter Cameron Johnston suffered a season-ending injury. Waitman wound up sticking with the Steelers for the next two seasons, averaging 46.4 yards on 65 punts in 2024 and 45.5 yards on 62 punts in 2025.
On his career, Waitman has a total of 52 punts with an average of 46.4 and a net yards per punt mark of 41.7. He has 84 punts inside the 20 (36.5 percent), 15 touchbacks, and has not had a punt blocked.
Southpaw/southfoot
The 49ers will have a bit of a rarity in Waitman -- a left-footed punter.
Left-footed punters are a minority in the NFL, but it can give them an advantage other punters don't have, according to Waitman.
"It's kind of like baseball; it's just a little bit different," Waitman told Broncos.com in 2022. "Different spin, [but] it's not just a different spin. Lefties have this weird — you can ask returners — it just knuckles sometimes in the air and stuff. It's one of those things, but it's one of those things a returner can work on and get used to. But you notice when it's a lefty punter, sometimes they muff it here and there. It's definitely an advantage going against a returner — sometimes. Those returners are professionals, too."
Waitman is also left-handed. But if for some reason he had to kick with his right foot, he doesn't think it would go too well.
"Let's say, not far enough to be an NFL punter," Waitman said. "Let's just say that. Maybe high school? But not far enough to become an NFL punter."
One of a kind?
Speaking of rarity, Waitman may be one of the only NFL players (if not the only NFL player) who represents the South American country of Suriname. Waitman was actually born in Belgium and grew up in the Netherlands, but he has chosen to represent Suriname in NFL games to honor his mother.
"My mom was born there," Waitman told Broncos.com. "It's a Dutch colony, so that's why I speak Dutch. My mom moved to the Netherlands, but my mom was born there and I've been there plenty of times. That's my mom's heritage, so I take a lot of pride in it. It's a third-world country, so I really want to make sure I represent it. I had to pick between the Dutch flag and the Surinamese flag and, no offense, we've got so many professional Dutch soccer players, so many kickboxers, UFC fighters, so I had to make sure I just represent the country that's not as represented on the global scale. I had to make sure I represented that flag for all my people there and my mother, of course.
"I take pride in it, of course. I want to represent because a lot of those people are not heard. A lot of people have never heard of that country, you know what I mean? So I really want to represent it. I put it on my helmet (as part of the NFL's international helmet decal initiative that lets players put the flags of their countries of origin on their helmets)... It's important to me because it's where my mom is from."
Life in Europe vs. the U.S.
Waitman's father, Jose, was a basketball player at South Alabama before embarking on a pro career in Europe. It was there that Corliss was born and lived with his mother in the Netherlands until age 15. He played soccer and ran track in Europe, but after spending summers visiting his father in Milton, Florida, he made the move there when he was in high school.
"My dad is from Florida, of course," Waitman told Broncos.com. "My dad was playing basketball overseas, met my mom there, and I ended up growing up there, pretty much, for like 14 or 15 years. I used to go to Florida all the time in the summer, see my dad and stuff like that, because he's from Pensacola and used to be there. So I wasn't like a stranger to America. But when I was 15, I moved for good."
Waitman said in 2022 that while he liked some American food, he missed the fresh food of Europe, as well as the level of diversity he experienced there.
"It's easy to find fresh food," Waitman said. "The portion size, of course, is different. It's less greasy and stuff like that. That's the main difference. But I love my donuts here, I love my burgers and stuff like that. But the best thing that I had in Europe is it's so diverse. I lived in Amsterdam for most of my life [there] — super diverse, so multicultural, everybody embraces each other. That's the main thing I've noticed about Europe. They're a little ahead when it comes to mentality. Because I grew up in the south, so it can be backwards sometimes, but Europe is very multicultural where I stayed, where I lived. Super multicultural. My school was full of different ethnicities, races, religions. You just coexist."
In the US, Waitman discovered that soccer wasn't as big of a deal, so he gave football a try. It turned out to be a wise choice, as he discovered he could kick a football far enough and well enough to earn him college scholarship offers. He also became online friends with former Raiders punter Marquette King, whom he contacted after researching Black punters who played in the NFL. King was the one who responded to him after getting contacted.
"Your favorite player, you're going to try to find a player you can really relate with. In high school, I could really relate with Marquette King," Waitman said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "To me, I think I'm in a perfect situation because I've been in different countries, lived in different neighborhoods. I've always been a multicultural guy, so it's easy for me to fit in anywhere and feel comfortable."
Waitman had the chance to play a game in Europe with the Broncos in 2022, which was the first time his family was able to see him play in person.
"Here in Holland, a lot of people don't know about American football," Waitman's mom Aldolphine told the Denver Gazette in 2022. "People ask me, 'What's your son doing?' And I tell them he plays American football and they think that's rugby or soccer. Everybody knows now. We're all excited to be there."
Dad's influence
Waitman experienced tragedy after moving to the United States when his father Jose died of a stroke at age 48, shortly before Corliss's 18th birthday. Jose didn't get to see his son's journey to the NFL unfold, but Corliss would not have gotten there without him.
"He was very hard on me when it came to sports," Waitman told 9News in Denver during a 2022 interview. "Off the court, he was a great dad. But on the court, on the field and on the track, he was very hard on me. No second place. And he helped me get here. The NFL is a very no-tolerance league. You've got to be very consistent and mentally strong. He calloused me mentally. He got me ready for this moment."
His father's death also motivated Waitman to succeed in order to take care of his family, which is another goal he's succeeded in reaching.
"Even when he was dying, he told him, 'Don't forget what I taught you. You can be everything you want to be,'" Aldolphine told 9News. "I think it's always on Corliss's mind that he promised his dad to take care of us and to chase his dreams. It was hard. And I didn't want him to feel like he needed to take care of us. I wanted him to live his life and be young and to chase his dreams. But he promised his dad he would take care of the family. He grew up very fast. He became a man."
Waitman now begins a new chapter as the punter with the San Francisco 49ers. Whatever awaits him once he reaches the Bay Area, it's safe to bet Waitman will face it with confidence.
"As soon as I made the NFL, that confidence was already instilled in me because my dad had told me I could make it at anything I do," Waitman told 9News. "So when I made it to the NFL, I had that confidence that I really belonged here. It's still unreal to me now. I'm in the NFL... So every day I'm grateful."
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