The NFL is taking over the MCG this week, with the first game of the 2026/27 NFL season kicking off this Friday on the hallowed turf.
For the first time in history, an NFL game will be played in Australia, as the NFL aims to expand its market globally, but it's not the first time Australians have been exposed to the NFL.
Several former AFL players have made the switch to the NFL, using arguably an AFL player's best skill: kicking.
AFL players have been able to use the most common ability in AFL to carve out a role in the NFL and evolve the position of punting.
Ben Graham
Graham was drafted by Geelong with pick 40 in the 1992 preseason draft, and went on to play 219 games for the Cats.
The utility would go on to captain Geelong and win the Cats' best and fairest in 1999.
Graham would play for the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and the Arizona Cardinals across his seven-year NFL career.
He would become the first player named captain of both the AFL and NFL sides, leading the New York Jets and the Geelong Cats.
Graham was the first Australian to feature in a Super Bowl, playing in Super Bowl XLIII for the Arizona Cardinals, who would lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
