Australian punter makes stunning NFL debut

Australian rookie punter Michael Dickson was superb in his NFL debut game with the Seattle Seahawks, stunning the Denver Broncos with pinpoint punts to go along with a giant 69 yard kick.

The Seahawks still lost however, 27-24, to the Denver Broncos who feature another Australian, Adam Gotsis at defensive tackle.

Nevertheless, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, while disappointed with the loss, was happy about the performance of his punter in his very  first NFL game:

“Oh my gosh, What a kicker, man. I don’t know what his numbers wound up but he’s a fantastic part of our team and we’re just getting warmed up with him.”

The 22 year old Dickson, from Sydney, Australia, had a 57.5 yards net average per punt on his six punts, tops in the NFL after the first weekend of play. The 22-year-old pinned the Broncos inside their 20-yard line four times, including the monster 69 yarder that bounced out of bounds at the Denver six-yard line.

According to Carroll, the Seahawks special teams unit biggest concern with Dickson’s booming punts was being stretched to the point of not being able to cover the punts properly:

“The punts were gorgeous but not just the distance of the punt … the placement of the punts. I was concerned in this game he was going to kick the ball so far he would stretch out the coverage so much.”

While Mile High Stadium in Denver is notorious for its thin air being at an altitude of 1,609 meters above sea level, Dickson outperformed Broncos punter Marquette King by a healthy margin. King averaged 42.7 yards on his six punts.