With last weekend’s victory to the Philadelphia Eagles over the New York Giants, and Arizona Cardinals victory over the Carolina Panthers we’re guaranteed – barring injury, poor form or some other freak of nature – to see an Australian punter in this year’s NFL Superbowl following this coming weekend’s NFC Championship where the two Aussies will match up against each other.
It’s great news for Australians, particularly NFL fans and/or AFL fans in Australia. Ben Graham and Sav Rocca both embarked on a second career as NFL punters after their successful careers as AFL players. The two players both known for their long raking kicks have adapted admirably to their new sport and one of them will be given the ultimate prize for their efforts by having the honour of being the first Australian to compete in American football’s showpiece match.
Ben Graham and Sav Rocca followed in the footsteps of former AFL player, Darren Bennett who had a long, successful second career as an NFL punter, most notably with the San Diego Chargers. Bennett was so effective as a punter that he was named in the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade team and twice won both Pro-Bowl and All-Pro selection in 1995 and 2000. Bennett paved the way for other Australian AFL stars to move into NFL punter in the twilight of their careers.
Australia has another prominent current punter in the NFL, Mat McBlair whose developed into one of the best punters in the league with an average of 44.7 yards her match. He was selected for the Pro-Bowl and All-Pro games in 2006.
So far, seven Australians are playing or have played football in the NFL, most as punters.
Posted by elcanguro76 
