Rugby league player drafted in dramatic night of NFL draft

A Western Sydney product’s dreams have come true with some late drama unfolding at the NFL Draft on Sunday morning.

Western Sydney product Jeremy Crawshaw has been selected by the Denver Broncos in the sixth round of the NFL Draft.

The Emu Plains local was made to wait until the final selection of Round 6 before he finally got the phone call to inform him the Broncos had snapped him up with the 216th overall pick.

Crawshaw has spent the past four years playing college football for the Florida Gators, averaging 45.8 yards in 2024.

He will be competing with Matt Haack for punting duties at the Broncos, News Corp reports.

With the Broncos prepared to use up a draft pick to take the punter — it is a strong sign the position is Crawford’s to lose.

Jeremy Crawshaw in action with Florida.

A rugby league fan growing up, Crawshaw had his eyes set on playing for the Penrith Panthers as a youngster before making the switch to Aussie Rules in 2015.

That put him on the eventual path to becoming an NFL punter, joining an invite-only Prokick program in Melbourne before moving to Florida.

Jeremy Crawshaw at the NFl Combine. Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images.

It has been a big week for Crawshaw, who tied the knot with his partner Elle ahead of the draft.

As reported by 9News Denver, New Broncos special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi has a proven track record with Australian-born punters and it makes the Broncos a desirable destination for Crawshaw to end up in.

“Played a lot of sports as a kid,’’ Crawshaw said in a media conference call

“Rugby was the main one. ... Pretty much started looking for something to do after school, play some sports. ... They gave me a scholarship to come over to Florida and spent five years here and then lucky enough to move on and be with the Denver Broncos.”

Elsewhere there was high drama when Shedeur Sanders was finally picked by the Cleveland Browns after an astonishing slide from where most experts expected him to go.

After being expected to go in the first round, Sanders had to wait until the fifth round.