NFL-Aussie Dickson looks to join Mailata with Super Bowl glory

By Ian Ransom

MELBOURNE, Feb 6 (Reuters) – More than a decade after missing out on a professional contract in Australian rules football, Michael Dickson will cap a remarkable journey to the NFL when he punts for the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl on Monday.

The Sydney-born 30-year-old will look to become the second Australian to win a Super Bowl following lineman Jordan Mailata’s triumph for the Philadelphia Eagles last season.

Like former rugby league player Mailata, Dickson’s switch to American football came in the wake of frustration on home soil.

Once eyeing a career in the Australian Football League, the top flight of “Aussie rules”, Dickson was a promising junior who was nurtured in the academy of AFL team Sydney Swans.

However, his dream was dashed when he was overlooked in the 2014 draft.

While his academy teammate Isaac Heeney was drafted by the Swans and quickly established himself as a national star, Dickson moved south to Melbourne to train with the ProKick Academy, a coaching programme to help aspiring kickers and punters play American football.

LONGHORNS

Led by Nathan Chapman, a former AFL player, ProKick has helped dozens of Australians earn football scholarships at U.S. colleges, with the best of them making the NFL.

Dickson’s kicking prowess set up a tour of the University of Texas and ultimately a scholarship with the Longhorns.

In his third season, he won the prestigious Ray Guy Award as the top college punter in the U.S.

Drafted by the Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Dickson became one of the league’s most consistent specialists.

He signed a four-year contract extension in 2025, making him the highest-paid punter in the NFL, and has been twice named an All-Pro.

“I definitely don’t take it for granted. The time has definitely flown by, but my plan is to play as long as I can and give it everything I have and see where it takes me,” Dickson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation of his NFL career.

His punting has been a crucial factor in Seattle’s post-season success, often pinning opponents deep and shifting field position in critical moments.

The attention and pressure will be at another level on Monday when a single kick from Dickson’s booming right leg could crown him a champion or a choker.

He will hope to avoid the fate of compatriot and former Aussie rules player Arryn Siposs who punted for the defeated Philadelphia Eagles in the 2023 Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Siposs’s punt in the fourth quarter was returned to the five-yard line, setting up a Chiefs touchdown and victory by three points.

Siposs was cut by the Eagles two weeks into the next season and was not picked up by another NFL team.

Dickson will have family at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, while back home in Australia, fans will pack out bars on a work-day to watch the championship game.

Having another Aussie in the Super Bowl is a boost for the NFL’s international marketing push.

The league will stage a first regular-season match in Australia this year when the Los Angeles Rams face the San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Mark Heinrich)