Hilarious reaction after punter Mitch Wishnowsky robbed of epic NFL play

Australian punter Mitch Wishnowsky stunned his teammates after calling his own play during the 49ers’ clash with Seattle.

Mitch Wishnowsky speaks to reporters.

The San Francisco 49ers are one of the most disciplined and well-oiled machines in the NFL, playing with a careful balance of creativity and precision that has them sitting on a 10-3 record and atop the NFC West.

Sometimes plays break down but fortunately this is a team that is not devoid of players that can make something out of nothing, headlined by star running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver duo Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk.

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After Monday’s win over Seattle, maybe you can add Australian punter Mitch Wishnowsky as another name to that list.

Wishnowsky has already gained a reputation as one of the league’s best punters but on Monday he showed off his elite game awareness and speed, picking up a 30-yard gain on a fake punt.

Unfortunately an illegal block on wide receiver Ronnie Bell, who slipped over, meant the play was called back but it still had everyone — including the 49ers locker room — talking.

Mitch Wishnowsky’s play on the left and right, he speaks to reporters.

The biggest question everyone was asking — did head coach Kyle Shanahan actually go off script and call his first special teams fake? Or, was it all Wishnowsky on the fly?

“I just knew that it would look good right there,” Shanahan said post-game.

“So I just called my first fake punt.”

He was joking of course. It was all Wishnowsky.

“I winged it,” the Australian later admitted.

“I just sort of looked and saw that the whole rush team had crushed down on the protection and it was open, so I just ran.”

Mitch Wishnowsky reveals he "winged" the fake punt 🔽 pic.twitter.com/rZtl74vl6n

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) December 11, 2023

And run he did, 20.13 miles per hour according to Next Gen Stats — the fifth-fastest ball carrier speed reached by a punter since 2016.

Although teammate George Kittle isn’t buying it.

“Did he really? Bull,” the tight end told reporters.

“You know what? When you have a punter, it’s the hair. It just flies in the wind,” he added, laughing.

Wishnowsky’s instinctive play was the talk of the locker room after the game, here is what his teammates and coach Shanahan had to say:

Shanahan:

“I don’t really know what happened on it. I think he just hesitated a little bit. I haven’t got to talk to him personally. I don’t know if he thought it was going to get blocked or if he bobbled the snap or just had a glitch. But it was a good one because when he paused and saw the edge it was obviously a clean look and he didn’t hesitate for it and I was just told he hit over 20 miles per hour on it, so that’s real cool.”

The refs just took away the coolest play of Mitch Wishnowsky's career and I am outraged.

— Nicholas McGee (@nicholasmcgee24) December 10, 2023

I wish I had the confidence of Mitch Wishnowsky faking a punt without anyone’s permission in my own life.

— East Bay Chris (@EastBayChris) December 11, 2023

Kyle Shanahan was as surprised as anybody that Wishnowsky ran the ball out of punt formation. Definitely wasn't called. He said he hadn't talked with Wishnowsky, but figures maybe there was a bobble and he didn't want to get it blocked so he ran it. Was a good run.

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) December 11, 2023

Ronnie Bell slipped and it led to a terrible penalty on an awesome fake punt from Wishnowsky, just so unfortunate

— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) December 10, 2023

Kittle:

“Everyone on the sideline was like, ‘I didn’t know we had a fake in’. Nope, just Mitch, the Australian guy running. He’s a dad, he can do whatever he wants. Too bad that got taken back. It was pretty special. I was sitting there and then all of the sudden he takes off. I was like, ‘Yes, Mitch!’ Because you’ve seen him tackle. I thought he was going to truck-stick someone, but he didn’t.”

Aiyuk:

“I heard he called his own number so that was pretty cool.”

Trent Williams:

“I loved it. We didn’t even get a heads up on it on the sideline. We’re over there getting ready to corrections and all I see is the Australian striking down the sideline. I was like wow. Unfortunately it was some bullcrap penalty but love to see the Australian out there opening that stride out.”

Originally published as Hilarious reaction after punter Mitch Wishnowsky robbed of epic NFL play