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More than 40 years after the first Australian crossed to the American National Football League, former AFL stars Sav Rocca and Ben Graham are the latest players to change their boots.
The idea was initiated by Victorian Colin Ridgway, who played reserves for Carlton and competed in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics as a high jumper.
Ridgway, who was murdered at his home in Texas in 1993, aged 56, was recruited by the Dallas Cowboys in 1965 but played just three games as the running drop kicks used in Australian Rules at the time did not translate to the American game.
Like all but one of the Australians who moved to the US to play gridiron, Ridgway was a punter.
The punter’s role is to stand behind the line of scrimmage in a game, catch the long snap from the centre, and kick the ball.
He generally goes on the field in on the fourth play, called a “down” and aimed at moving the ball at least 10 yards towards the opponents’ end zone.
The punter is used to boot the ball as far as possible into the opposition territory so they have more distance to make up when they gain possession of the ball.
Ridgway, Rocca, Graham, Victorian Darren Bennett and Mat McBrier and Colin Stotts from Sydney all played in the NFL.
Bennett, who played for West Coast and Melbourne in the AFL, played in the US from 1995-2005 and was generally regarded as the best punter in the competition in the 1990s.
He is also credited for the introduction into the NFL of the “Aussie rules kick” or drop punt as it is known in the AFL.
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