Pat McAfee's Thoughts on Australian NFL Kickers

This is a clip from The Pat McAfee Show presented by Westwood One.

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[trailofdistraction]

I’d love to see an Aussie punter one day fake the punt, start to run it, sell some candy to a would-be tackler, then slot it between the sticks from 50 out. Bloody sweet, mate

[ClarkKent]

As a 30 year old Aussie who only played junior AFL but kicked footballs all my life I remember visiting Dallas Cowboys stadium in 2001 on a tour and then they let us play around on the field with some balls. We were kicking balls from all angles through the uprights, passing to each other, bouncing the ball and kicking long punts for fun. They thought we were freaks.

[rlicon]

The kickers keep getting older as the episode goes on. 😂 😂 😂

[nicholasgillies]

The thing is with AFL players is that they go straight into the league after high school (17/18 years old) and while some do University part time, a lot don’t. So when their careers end in the AFL they tend to get degrees and stuff, which is why if they switch go NFL, they get scholarships to college.

[alexsmith]

6 out of the last 7 ray guy award winners were Australian from Prokick Australia. 6 of the top 15 punters in college this year were Australian same as last year. Most of the punters are good from Australia.

[wayneowen]

As an Aussie it’s good to see players in the nfl some of these boy’s have been holding a football since born hopefully we bring a new dynamic you guys haven’t seen I enjoy the game

[andrewog]

Thanks for the awesome feedback man! From Aus with love. 👌🇦🇺

[grogery]

Michael Dickson made the move to NFL/college after he failed to get picked up in Australian football. He always had a great kick but was viewed as injury prone. I bet he is loving that now as the kicker in an NFL team makes almost as much as an Australian football team!

[jozzieokes]

Mitch from my home town perth wa, what a legend

[alooga]

Michael Dixon's punt was blocked last night against the Rams, but he punted a second time and the ball flew 60+ yards. The officials on the field didn't know what to make of it and the play stood.

[nickhanlon]

The end over end kick he refers to is called the drop punt in Australia.If you can't drop punt the ball in Aussie Rules then you can't play.

[joshf-w]

Pretty sure you'll find most who take the college route come over in their early 20s if not teens, the older recruits like Sav Rocca and Ben Graham usually try out directly for NFL teams.

[AnodyneHipsterInfluencer]

Some of the Australian punters are 26 years old...
Some of these guys are 32 years old...
They're competing against men who are almost 40. .

Pat can get swept away easily tho.

[JonesRhod]

I asked Pat this question. I said there were a few kids that got on scholarship this week. I just forgot they actually get them on scholarship after careers in rugby or the AFL / NRL. Some amazing punters. Shout out to Pro Kick Australia, ... Love this show... Pat and the boys doing a fantastic job building it. Love the insight.

[RyanSmith-yxyj]

Great open mind. We feel the same here in Aus, it’d be amazing to get some of your athletes in our sport. Unfortunately they would have to take an insane pay cut and hope for 500-800K AUD

[jacksonwalker]

it’s so funny i’m from western sydney and a mate of mine just got a scholarship with florida state and where we are from it’s rugby league or nothing and the fact that he’s gone over there for a full scholarship is mental and blows our mind

[noahsorensen]

Mike Dickson is insane, he is an amazing punter and can drop kick a 60 yard field goal

[clubsamwitchguy]

I cannot believe that he hasn't ever even mentioned the Scottish Hammer 🔨

[markeymark]

Sav Rocca made his nfl debut at 33 overlooked people deserve chances too. Just 1 season in the nfl can change your life

[aetd]

Just for the non-Australians here (this would be similar across the major football (excluding "soccer") codes of rugby league (NRL - Jarryd Hayne, Jordan Mailata, Valentine Holmes), Australian football/Aussie rules (AFL - Ben Graham, Saverio Rocca, Brad Wing), and rugby union/rugby (can't think of any big players off the top of my head atm).

Play junior footy from ages 6-16ish trying to make representative teams. From 16 through to 18 you're trying to get into a youth development squad of one of the major league clubs or for your state or national team.

Some leagues will have a separate level for under-20/21/23 year olds. By then, if you haven't been signed professionally, you either spend the rest of your career playing "reserve grade" or even park footy (think "minor leagues").

There is no major collegiate circuit for most Sports here as most players with talent will be scouted very young playing for clubs inside a junior system, which acts as a talent development and identification system for a larger sports club. Many players here get headhunted between the different codes seeing as many skills can transfer between the different types of football (similar to the interaction between the NFL, CFL and college rugby).

Most of the big Australian NFL players actually played in our "major leagues" here earning high salaries in national competitions which attract some of the biggest average crowds in the world.

More and more young talent, particularly the naturally agile but strong Polynesians who play in the rugby codes and the Aussie rules talent who have great kicking skills but might lack the cardiovascular or more all around abilities, is being scouted by agents and are trying out for the NFL.

More opportunities existing for Australian kids is fantastic, and in fact, some people have probably forgotten that an ex-NFL player played for the Newtown Jets rugby league team in the 1970s (Manfred Moore, drafted from USC but struggled in the big league) and that a former Oklahoma State basketball player, Mason Cox, plays in the AFL for Collingwood, one of the biggest Australian sporting clubs.

Any time Aussies succeed in sport, it's an achievement for all of us, even though the media don't tend to talk about it here (even Jason Belmonte doesn't get much coverage at all)