For most of his life, Mason Denaburg's dream was to pitch in the big leagues. A former Merritt Island High School two-sport standout who became a first-round MLB Draft pick of the Washington Nationals in 2018, Denaburg's professional baseball journey was filled with promise — and heartbreak. A string of injuries, five surgeries, and countless rehab sessions derailed his career before he ever made it to the majors.
Now, at 25, Denaburg is turning the page — not away from sports, but back to one that had always been quietly waiting in the background.
He's officially joining the UCF Football team later this month as a punter, reigniting an old skill he hadn't seriously pursued since high school.
His last full high school football season in 2016 - his junior year - Denaburg earned First Team All-State honors as a punter.
"It's been a long road with baseball," Denaburg said. "I've been hurt a lot. It wasn't like a joke, but my brother was like, 'Hey, you should mess around and just punt.'"
His younger brother Brady, a standout kicker who began his career at Syracuse and recently transferred to Minnesota, planted the seed when he returned home last December. Mason had just undergone surgery to repair a torn hip labrum — the latest in a string of setbacks that began not long after he signed with the Nationals in 2018. Shoulder surgery, Tommy John, a hernia, a nerve issue in his elbow — the list piled up.
"I pitched with a torn hip labrum for the last two years," Denaburg said. "I was a free agent after the season. I didn't really want to play indy ball, and at the same time, I knew I was 25. The clock's kind of ticking with college football."
With no baseball contract and his rehab nearing completion, he started punting for the first time in nearly seven years.
It wasn’t long before he realized he still had it.
Brady encouraged him to take it seriously. And so, this past winter, Mason shifted fully into football training mode — connecting with former UCF kicker Dylan Barnas, who's now a private trainer working with specialists in the Central Florida area.
Barnas, a fellow Merritt Island alum who in 2017 played for UCF under then-head coach Scott Frost, saw potential in Denaburg and reached out to Knights special teams coordinator Pete Alamar with video clips.
That initial film, Mason admits, wasn't perfect.
"The technique obviously wasn't there," he said. "But from December to May, it got a lot better — the flight, the distance, the hang time."
Denaburg visited UCF for spring practice in April, where he finally met Alamar in person and shook his hand.
"I told him my story," Denaburg said. "He told me to go home and send him six punts right and six left. I did it that same day, and he texted me back saying he wanted to talk more."
Soon after, Denaburg returned for another visit — meeting Frost, other staffers, and players — before making it official.
"I told Coach Alamar I wanted to come here," Denaburg said. "It's the perfect situation. My girlfriend lives in Windermere, my family is 40 minutes away, and I’m really enjoying myself for the first time in a long time."
Denaburg's road to UCF has been anything but conventional. He originally committed to play baseball at Florida after his freshman year at Merritt Island. While UF had floated the idea of him playing both baseball and football, the latter always took a backseat.
"I think that's part of the reason I didn’t get recruited for football elsewhere," Denaburg said. “Everyone knew I was going to play baseball at Florida."
Though he played quarterback, wide receiver, and handled kicking duties in high school, his football career never had a true finale. He missed most of his senior season while playing for USA Baseball's national team in Canada, and injuries later consumed his pro baseball years.
But kicking and punting never completely left his mind.
"Ever since I was 10 or 12, I could kick and punt," Denaburg said. "It was always like a Plan B. I’d say, 'If baseball doesn't work out, maybe I'll try football.' I never thought it would actually happen. I wanted baseball to work more than anything."
Now that he's back in football, he's laser-focused. With four months of training under Barnas — "three to four times a week," he noted — Denaburg believes he's made rapid strides.
"Obviously Dylan's not a punter, but he's been around the game for a long time," Denaburg said. "He really helped me turn it around."
Denaburg describes himself as a "spiral, standard punter," not someone who does the rugby-style rollouts that have become common in college football.
He'll enter a competition this summer with Michael Carter and Ohio State transfer Anthony Venneri, who will also enroll this summer.
"I think it's just come in and compete for a job, just like anything," Denaburg said. "It's no different than being in baseball. Even though they're on your team, at the end of the day, someone is going to win the spot."
During his visits, Denaburg connected quickly with Frost, now back at UCF for a second stint after his successful run in 2016-17.
"We kind of just talked shop a little bit," Denaburg said. “He asked about baseball. He's a big Cubs fan. I really liked how he carried himself at practice. He's very professional in how he communicates with his players and staff."
For Denaburg, this opportunity is more than a second chance — it’s a fresh start.
"I'm enjoying going to the field. I'm enjoying going to the gym. I'm enjoying getting better at something — honestly for the first time in a really long time," Denaburg said. "The baseball thing kind of got to me mentally for a while. It was a tough couple of years."
He knows Alamar is taking a chance on him.
"There's not many coaches out there who would say, 'This kid hasn't punted in seven years, let's give him a shot.' But he is. And I'm going to work as hard as I can to prove him right."
