Australia, while famous for its rugby and Australian Rules Football, has a small stake in the NFL too and has produced several athletes currently plying their trade as American football players. There are also a number of other athletes hailing from Australia who form part of other leagues in the United States such as the NBA and MLS.
The NFL, though, provides a platform similar to Australia’s main sports and a few of the players currently in the NFL have their roots therein. When it comes to high contact sports, the NFL is the go-to for betting as it’s certainly more popular on a worldwide scale.
That said, below are few Australian players who are playing in the NFL this season.
Arryn Siposs came into the NFL as an undrafted player last year, inking a deal with the Detroit Lions following the draft. Now a practice squad punter for the Philadelphia Eagles, the 28-year-old started out as an Aussie Rules football player for the St Kilda Football Club before switching codes to play college football in the States.
He was selected at No.75 by the aforementioned Australian side in the 2010 AFL Draft and played his first game as a second-half sub against Carlton in the seventh round of the 2011 AFL season.
The team delisted Siposs at the end of the season and he committed to play for Auburn two years later.
Mitch Wishnowsky
The 29-year-old, who hails from Gosnells, Australia, is a punter for the San Francisco 49ers. Wishnowsky was drafted by the Niners in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, coming in at 110 overall after playing for the University of Utah. He was a unanimous All-American sophomore in 2016, winning the Ray Guy Award whilst at college, and was also named to the College Football America Team following a sensational second year.
Wishnowsky made a pair of punts in the Super Bowl as a rookie, having signed a four-year deal with San Francisco. But the team, unfortunately, lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jordan Mailata
A Samoan-Australian, Jordan Mailata is an offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles. He has roots in rugby, having started out by playing for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Under-18 side and the South Sydney Rabbitohs Under-20 setup.
He made his way to the NFL via the International Player Pathway Program, having gotten an invite for a tryout by NFL executives after they saw video footage of him playing rugby. Mailata would confess that his knowledge of American football was limited and he had never played it before; he claimed to have only watched the Super Bowl every year but wouldn’t watch any other games apart from that.
Mailata got drafted by the Eagles at 233rd overall in the seventh round.
Michael Dickson
After playing for the Texas Longhorns in college, Michael Dickson was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks as the 149th overall pick in 2018. He was handed the job of punter after John Ryan was released and made his debut in Seattle’s opener against the Denver Broncos that year. He had six punts for 354 net yards in the 27-24 loss.
The Seahawks signed Dickson to a four-year, $14.5 million deal in June this year.
Cameron Johnston
The Houston Texans punter played out his college career with Ohio State. He also started out in Australian Rules Football, spending a season with the Melbourne Football Club. Johnston joined the Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and was waived a few months later before signing a reserve deal with the team at the beginning of the following year.
He made it to the 53-man roster in September and debuted in their opener against the Atlanta Falcons, logging six punts for 313 net yards in an 18-12 victory. Johnston signed a one-year deal with the Eagles last March but is now part of the roster in Houston after signing a deal with them earlier this year.
Adam Gotsis
A defensive end for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Adam Gotsis was drafted by the Broncos in the second round of the draft in 2016 following a collegiate career at Georgia Tech. He is the highest-drafted player from Australia after going 63rd overall.
He signed a four-year deal with the Broncos and played in all 15 games, ending the season with 14 tackles, five of which were on his own. He started in 13 games the following term, making 41 tackles, 28 sacks on his own, four passes defended and a fumble recovery. He has since moved to Jacksonville, signing with the team last year and re-signing this year as well.
