Darren Bennett first paved the way back in 1995, and now former ruckman Chris Bryan is riding the latest wave of Australian rules football players-turned-NFL punters. And it's the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who hope to benefit from Bryan's move to the States.
On Monday, the Buccaneers announced the signing of Bryan, who made his NFL debut this preseason with the Green Bay Packers. To make room on the 53-man roster, the Bucs waived rookie punter Brent Bowden.
After five seasons in the Australian Football League, Bryan signed with the Packers in February and competed with first-year man Tim Masthay for Green Bay's punting job. Both Bryan and Masthay performed well, but the rookie from Australia was released during the final roster cutdown on Saturday. During the preseason, the 6-6, 220-pound Bryan, who is known as "Bear," averaged 42.0 yards on eight punts, with no touchbacks and a long of 57 yards.
The left-footed Bryan played for Carlton (2005-06) and Collingwood (2007-09) in the AFL, recording 28 goals in 62 games. He trained for his attempted switch to American football in 2009 by training with ProKick Australia, an academy run by former Australian NFL hopeful Nathan Chapman.
Chapman didn't turn his 2005 tryout with the Packers into a lasting NFL gig, but several other Australian punters have found great success in the States. Bennett 11 years in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers and Minnesota Vikings, earning two Pro Bowl berths and finishing with an outstanding career average of 43.4 yards per punt.
There are currently three other Australian punters in the league: Ben Graham (Arizona Cardinals), Sav Rocca (Philadelphia Eagles) and Mat McBriar (Dallas Cowboys). Last season, Graham managed an incredible 47.0 yards per punt, with an equally outstanding net average of 40.6. He has played for the Jets, Saints and Cardinals and owns a career average of 44.4 yards per punt. Rocca has averaged 42.6 yards per punt over three seasons with the Eagles while McBriar has a career mark of 45.0 yards per punt over six seasons and was the NFC's Pro Bowl punter in 2006.
The Buccaneers drafted Bowden out of Virginia Tech in the sixth round in April after using three different punters in 2009. Josh Bidwell, another former Packer, had held the Buccaneers' job for five years but was lost to a hip injury in training camp. Bidwell was replaced by Dirk Johnson, who held the job for 11 weeks before sustaining his own season-ending hamstring injury. Sam Paulescu finished out the season as the Buccaneers' punter. Tampa Bay released Bidwell and Johnson early in the 2010 offseason and Paulescu after the 2010 draft, leaving the rookie Bowden as the only punter on the roster.
Bowden thus handled all of the team's punting duties during the preseason and averaged 36.5 yards on 20 kicks, with a net of 35.9. Bowden showed his directional-kicking strength by dropping eight punts inside the 20 versus no touchbacks but struggled to consistently get distance on his kicks.
