Michael Dickson takes us inside Seattle’s changerooms and reveals how he copes with NFL pressure
MICHAEL Dickson is making plenty of noise in America’s biggest sport. Why is that remarkable? He’s an Aussie, a rookie and a punter. The unabashed Collingwood fan takes us into the Seattle changerooms.
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BIG money, bling and over-inflated egos, American football is easily clichéd.
So how does a young Australian walk into that environment and, not only survive, but thrive?
After an award-winning college career, Michael Dickson entered the NFL with a huge amount of hype after being drafted in the fifth round, almost unheard of for a punter.
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He’s not only lived up to those expectations, he’s exceeded them with some remarkable performances for league powerhouse Seattle Seahawks.
The Sydney native was quick to dismiss the cliches, revealing a very different changerooms to the “show me the money” stereotype Australians might believe in.
“You’d be surprised how similar the humour is and the culture is between Australia and America,” he said from Seahawks headquarters.
“There’s a lot of laid back guys and funny guys as well. It’s a pretty big team, so you get a wide array of characters.”
Dickson couldn’t have wished for a better team or coach in the NFL with the Seahawks and Pete Carroll famous for backing players to express themselves, helping the likes of Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman and Marshawn Lynch become superstars of the competition.
That’s exactly what Dickson did a fortnight ago with a surprise run that sealed a crucial road win over Detroit.
Lining up to punt from the back of his own end zone, Dickson was meant to just waste time before stepping out of bounds but saw a gap and backed himself to sprint 10 yards for a match-defining first down in the final minutes.
The move not only caught the Lions defence by surprise but stunned his own teammates and coaches.
“It was open, and I just went for it,” he told the Herald Sun.
— NFL (@SEA_NFL) October 28, 2018
Mike Davis' face after Michael Dickson's run pic.twitter.com/rxZWbYEjIb
— hawkschronicle (@HawksChronicle) October 30, 2018
“It was a great reaction (after the game), everyone was super excited. It caught everyone off guard. The whole team was slapping my helmet, telling me I was crazy.
“Pete Carroll was cracking up, my special teams coach was saying how crazy I was and thank God I got it. It was all positive.”
Punters aren’t meant to run with the ball in hand and few come with the athleticism of Dickson.
That comes from growing up playing Aussie rules and going through the Sydney Swans Academy. Dickson played in the Swans reserves’ NEAFL Grand Final in 2014 before he swapped the Sherrin for a gridiron.
“In Aussie rules you obviously run the ball a lot, so I’m not too afraid of contact, that wasn’t really on my mind,” he said.
Dickson hasn’t forgotten his Aussie roots either, keeping a close eye on his beloved Collingwood as well as the Swans.
“I love seeing the Swannies do well and Isaac Heeney, I always check up on how he’s doing, when I was back before the combine I saw him,” he said.
“I’m a Collingwood supporter, so that Grand Final was a little tough, but also a Swans supporter having come through the Academy.”
The 22-year-old also keeps in regular contact with his fellow Australians in the NFL, particularly fellow punters Cam Johnston, Lachie Edwards and Jordan Berry.
“Definitely, each week I look up and see how they’re doing. They’re crushing it this year,” he said.
“Cam and I had a back and forth message when he was in London, I just wished him good luck.
“Lachie Edwards, I trained with him a lot before the (draft) combine. He’s a good friend of mine. He’s crushing it this year as well. I love seeing that.”
Dickson and Johnston in particular are being talked about as possible Pro Bowl punters — the NFL’s All-Star game — an incredible feat for two Australians in their rookie seasons.
Based on average yards per punt, Philadelphia’s Johnston is No.1 in the NFL with Dickson not far behind in fourth and New York Jet Edwards seventh.
If the long-kicking Aussie is nominated for the end-of-season match, it would only add to his trophy cabinet.
In Dickson’s final season at the University of Texas he was named the Ray Guy Award winner as the best punter in college football and All-American before he claimed MVP honours in the Longhorns’ Texas Bowl win over Missouri. It was the first time a punter had claimed a bowl MVP award since 2008.
It becomes obvious that pressure means little to Dickson, who says playing in front of Texas’ fanatic fanbase was the perfect preparation for the NFL.
“Coming from a school like Texas there was already a lot of pressure on me,” he said.
“I really had to deal with that my freshman year, once I did that it was pretty easy coming in here.”
Texas’ Memorial Stadium in Austin holds an incredible 100,119 fans, the ninth biggest stadium in the world, pipping the MCG by a measly 95 people.
Dickson is happy at Seattle and despite his headline-grabbing performances can still walk down the street in a sports-mad city.
“Yeah, thank God. I get a couple of people every now and then who come up and say you’re doing well. They’re all super supportive here,” he said.
“Everyone here is very much like a big team. You don’t get treated any different because you’re a specialist.
“We’re all on the mission to win games, everyone has that in mind. There’s no weird interactions between everyone, it’s very much like a family here.”
Originally published as Michael Dickson takes us inside Seattle’s changerooms and reveals how he copes with NFL pressure
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