Why Aussie punters are changing the NFL

There are very few things more American than the NFL. Except it’s no longer solely dominated by Americans.

NFL

There are very few things more American than the NFL. Except it’s no longer solely dominated by Americans...

It was a simple play. With the Seattle Seahawks leading the Detroit Lions 28-14 and holding the ball just three yards from their own endzone, all their punter had to do was take the ball, soak up some time, and then step out of bounds. The Seahawks would concede two points for a safety, but the ball would be out of the danger zone.

It was a very simple play. But Seattle’s punter was no ordinary punter. He was an Australian.

Michael Dickson took the ball in the endzone as if about to punt, stepped right, saw a chance and…ran. The Aussie punter defied the plan and his coach and bolted upfield. He made nine yards to secure a first down, and the Seahawks kept the ball, didn’t have to concede two points, and won easily. Of course, if Dickson had been caught before making the first down, it could’ve ended in disaster. But again, this is no ordinary punter.

Dickson, a former prospect for the Sydney Swans in the AFL, had already stunned the NFL when he revived the art of the drop-kick – a kick popular in the 1920s and 30s but long out of vogue today. Sometimes it takes an outsider to open up the possibilities that were always there, and Dickson looks like the man for the job – whether it’s drop-kicks or giving his coach a cardiac episode by running the ball when he was supposed to stay put.

But Dickson is just the latest in a long line of Australians changing the face of the NFL. Back home the biggest headlines are reserved for the likes of Jarryd Hayne and Valentine Holmes: rugby league speedsters risking big reputations by testing out their running chops on a bigger stage and an alien code. But Aussies have been taking a punt in much more literal sense, and meeting with major success, for years.

A pioneer of Australians in American football was Darren Bennett, who played successfully for West Coast and Melbourne in the AFL, but found greater fame in the US, showing Americans just how the booming boot of an Aussie Rules star can work in their game. Bennett became a bona fide NFL superstar, and despite only beginning his career with the San Diego Chargers in 1995, he was named in the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1990s.

Bennett’s success inspired NFL franchises to go on the hunt for Australians to bolster their stocks, having recognised that in Australia there was a goldmine of athletes who had grown up booting balls many a mile. Mat McBriar was an unknown in the Warrnambool and District Football League before turning heads at a kicking competition at Melbourne’s Waverly Park. Coincidentally it was Darren Bennett himself who helped McBriar get a scholarship with the University of Hawaii, from where he moved into the NFL. McBriar became the second Australian to be selected to the Pro Bowl, and in 2006 registered a 75-yard punt that was officially the second-longest in Dallas Cowboys history.

Ben Graham and Saverio Rocca were far from unknowns when they upped sticks to head to the States. Graham had captained Geelong and was known for his massive roosts from fullback when he surprised the AFL world with his move to the New York Jets. Graham’s gigantic left foot helped him become the first Australian to play in the Super Bowl, and earned him money he could never have commanded in the AFL – without having to do all the other stuff like marking an opponent or tackling.

Rocca followed Graham a couple of years later, as the oldest rookie in NFL history – at 33 years old. Big Sav was famous in Oz for his ability to kick goals from distances mere mortals could only dream of: in America he thrilled fans of the Philadelphia Eagles, and later the Washington Redskins, with his thumping punts.

So Dickson has simply become part of a proud and increasingly prolific history of Aussie-NFL collaboration, where local boys made good have been showing the Yanks just how hard we kick down under, while also demonstrating an impressive athleticism and versatility not always associated with American-grown punters (see, for example, Sav Rocca’s crunching tackle on the Arizona Cardinals’ Patrick Peterson as the latter attempted to return one of his punts).

You can definitely expect to see more big-kicking Aussies making headlines Stateside, especially now that Dickson is showing that Australians can not only kick a ball a country mile, but opening fans’ eyes to aspects of their game they might have forgotten were there themselves. We’re not saying only an Australian would’ve thought of dashing out of the endzone against instructions, or drop-kicking kickoffs to pin returners under a high ball. But you can definitely see the signs of creativity and ingenuity there that come naturally to a bloke from Down Under. From now on, the NFL will be learning not to send a Yank to do an Aussie’s job.