NFL punter’s ‘Australian kick’ baffles US commentators

A punter’s “Australian kick” has left NFL commentators puzzled, while Aussie sport fans had a very different reaction to America.

One of Australia’s leading NFL punters has left American commentators baffled with an impressive kick this week.

There are five Australian-raised punters in the NFL — San Francisco 49ers Mitch Wishnowsky, Seattle Seahawks’ Michael Dickson, Chicago Bears’ Tory Taylor, New Orleans’ Matthew Hayball and Pittsburgh Steelers’ Cameron Johnston.

Watch an average of 6 games each week during the regular season, plus every game of the NFL Postseason including the Super Bowl, LIVE on ESPN with Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.

Dickson has been with the Seahawks since 2018 and while Seattle may have lost 30-13 to the Green Bay Packers, the 28-year-old from Sydney impressed.

Early in the fourth quarter, Dickson unleashed a bomb of a punt that travelled a good 60 yards and proved too hot to handle for Green Bay’s Jayden Kevon Reed, who dropped the ball.

“That was a tough to catch wobbler,” a commentator said.

NFL commentator Cris Collinsworth said on the call: “That was one of those sort of Australian kicks.

“You sort of swing across your body with that kick and it’s got that wild spin on it that you just don’t see that often.

“Let’s look at how he makes this kick. Dickson is going to wrap around the ball almost like a corner kick in soccer, and the spin just too much on the backside for Reed.”

Watch Michael Dickson’s punt in the video above

Michael Dickson's punt left commentators baffled. Photo: X/ESPN.

The kick proved too hot to handle. Photo: X.

But many Australian sports fans weren’t exactly blown away, pointing out Dickson’s punt was a classic wobbly drop punt seen frequently in NRL and AFL games, with many saying the frenzy around Aussie punters could be put down to the lack of kicking involved in many American sports.

Former AFL player Josh Jenkins said it was a “decent explanation from GOAT COLLINSWORTH.”

One fan wrote on X: “Let’s hold off introducing the seppo’s to the mongrel punt, they ain’t ready for it.”

A second said: “Just another great day at the office for Seahawks real MVP Michael Dickson.”

Michael Dickson's punt left commentators baffled. Photo: X/ESPN.

Dickson unleashed a mongrel kick. Photo: X/ESPN.

A third said: “Australian: (Deliberately miskicks a torpedo). Americans: We have no idea what’s happening and you have permanently changed our national sport.”

The sportsindustry account on X shared the clip of Dickson’s punt, adding: “5 Australian punters in NFL teams, 61 in College teams this year. By all reports changing the way the game is played. Might almost be worth taking an AFL game to the US one day soon.”

A fourth added: “Wait till you see Rugby League player Matt Burton let one go.”

Another said: “Imagine Matt Burton sending the pig skin into outer space.”

Canterbury Bulldogs playmaker Matt Burton is one of the best exponents of the towering kick in the NRL.

Burton prompted Andrew Johns to say “Are the NFL scouts watching this?” when he put on a kicking exhibition on his State of Origin debut in 2022.

Michael Dickson is the highest paid punter in the NFL. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Dickson is one of the highest paid punters in the NFL after he signed a four-year $14.7 million (A$23.2 million) contract with the Seahawks that sees him earn a salary of around $3.67 million (A$5.7 million).

It’s not the first time one of his punts has gone viral either. In 2021, Dickson scooped up the loose ball when his punt was blocked before launching the ball downfield in a rare piece of open punting play as his Aussie Rules background was put on show.

The Pro Kick Australia program, based in Melbourne, has helped many young Aussies make the leap to college football and then onto the NFL.

Eddie McGuire’s son Joe McGuire is plying his trade as a punter for the Ohio State Buckeyes, while Essendon 400-game legend Dustin Fletcher’s son Mason Fletcher is a punter for the Cincinnati Bearcats.

While punters are only really expected to kick, Fletcher has shown he isn’t afraid to get involved and drop a hip and shoulder in some scrambling defensive plays.

Originally published as NFL punter’s ‘Australian kick’ baffles US commentators