If Arryn Siposs gets the nod to return from injury and take his place in the Super Bowl, it’ll be the continuation of one of sport’s most fascinating storylines; the rise and rise of the Australian punter.
Siposs is the second part of Australia’s Philadelphia Eagles double act. While Jordan Mailata is a key position superstar, paid $23 million-a-year, the former St Kilda forward plays a role that is still the butt of jokes among football fans, even as the punter position has been elevated in its importance to the success of an NFL team in the last decade.
Arguably part of the reason punters are drawing higher draft picks and larger salaries these days is the new range of skills Australians have brought to the role.
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Traditionally the punter is wheeled out on fourth down to kick the ball as long down the field as possible, while also giving it plenty of hang time so the rest of the ‘special teams’ unit on the field can make enough ground to prevent the opposition punt returner from a significant yardage gain after catching the ball.
For generations, American raised punters got to the NFL by perfecting this one skill. Australian punters though have more often than not been raised on a diet of Aussie rules football – an exceptional training ground for a more diverse range of kicking skills, but also a sport in which all players need to be able to dish out and take physical punishment. No one is immune from contact.
Since making his NFL debut for the Eagles in September 2021, Siposs, who played 28 games in the AFL across five seasons before making the jump to college football in America, has made the highlight reels for his toughness and athleticism more than just his ability to land a punt on a dime.
Most recently he made himself a cult hero with Eagles fans by trash talking Giants fans as he was carted off the field with a serious lower leg injury in December. Siposs ripped a deltoid ligament and suffered a high ankle sprain after he was tackled across the sideline having scooped up a loose ball when one of his punts was blocked.
It was the type of moment that is becoming his trademark. Whereas most punters would stay well away from the prospect of contact, Siposs puts his body on the line when a scramble play is required. The Aussie rules player in him lives on in America as he carries a punting legacy that was started by Darren Bennett in the mid 90s – the AFL’s pioneer in the NFL.
Siposs is one of several Aussie punters currently active in the NFL. Perhaps the most famous of them is the Seattle Seahawks’ Michael Dickson, who has made a habit out of going viral for trick plays as well as outrageous punts that pin opponents close to their own end zone.
There’s also the San Francisco 49ers’ Mitch Wishnowsky, the Houston Texans’ Cameron Johnston, and up until recently, Jordan Berry, who starred in the NFL for eight years before being cut by the Minnesota Vikings in August last year.
Speaking to Wide World of Sports, another Aussie who made it in the NFL, Colin Scotts, reflected on what Australian punters had done to change the position in the big time.
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“The biggest reason is that they are athletes,” Scotts said.
“They are used to bashing people in Aussie rules. They’re coming from a pedigree of tackling and bashing. They like it. Whereas normal punters in the US run away from any contact, it’s the biggest joke.
“Also they can run and be a threat for the fake punt that you saw Michael Dickson pull off. They’re a big bonus as an athlete where punters are usually soft and unused to contact.”
The second reason Australians have changed the game for punters in the NFL is perhaps more important given it pertains to the craft they’re actually paid for. While previously punters knew how to kick a ball high and long, they weren’t particularly accurate. The Aussie rules style ‘drop punt’ on the other hand can be put just about wherever a skilled kicker wants to land it.
“They’re revolutionising the way they’re kicking the ball, they’re putting it and stopping it inside the 20,” Scotts said.
“In my day (Scotts played in the NFL in 1987/88) they really didn’t do that, they just punted high. The Aussie punters not only can kick it far but they can direct it, and pin-point it in the 5, 10 yard line. Which is a major deal.”
And it’s his kicking, not the athleticism and toughness, that has brought Siposs firmly into his coach’s calculations for the Super Bowl, despite the fact that he has been out of action since injuring his leg in that scramble play against the Giants.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni told media in Phoenix on Wednesday morning (AEDT) that the team was “still working through” whether Siposs would play but his superior punting statistics to his replacement, Brett Kern, have put him well and truly in the frame.
Kern’s net punting average in the NFC Championship game that qualified the Eagles for the Super Bowl was just 35 yards. Siposs’ has a superior net yardage average over his 13 games compared to Kern’s six and crucially has a significant edge in accuracy, having landed 16 of his kicks inside his team’s defensive 20-yard area compared to just four from Kern.
Speaking to SEN Radio on Wednesday, Siposs was still unsure whether Sirianni would give him the nod to suit up for the biggest game of his sporting career on Monday (AEDT).
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“I don’t know just yet, all I know is that I’m getting better every single day,” he said.
“I’m training with the guys and doing everything I need to do. When the time comes, I will be ready to go.
“I know what I need to do to get out there and play. I will be well and truly prepared and ready to go for Sunday [Monday AEDT].”
Should he make it onto the field, it will be the icing on the cake of an incredible journey that started as soon as his AFL career finished in 2015, as he trained his eyes on the path to the NFL draft.
Having trained with specialist punting school ProKick Australia to make the transition, Siposs got his shot at college football for Auburn University in 2018 and 2019.
He reflected on that increasingly well trodden path for Aussie rules players keen on making it in the NFL in his interview with SEN.
“It’s been quite a journey,” Siposs said.
“It’s spanned over 12 years from being in the AFL as a 17-year-old to being delisted at 22 and not sure how it will pan out.
“You try and work your way back into the AFL system and an opportunity comes up to make a life over here potentially. Did I expect this to happen? Absolutely not. Was my dream to make the NFL? Absolutely. After that, everything else is a bonus.
“This is something I will treasure for the rest of my life.”
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