Since 2000, nine Australians have appeared in a regular season NFL game.
Of that group, seven have been punters – a position not exactly known for creating stars. And because of that fact, American football hadn’t grown much in mainstream popularity Down Under, where Aussie rules football and rugby league are king.
That paradigm, however, started to shift with the stateside arrival of Jarryd Hayne last summer. As the story goes, the two-time MVP of the National Rugby League spurned the richest contract in the sport’s history to sign a rookie deal with the San Francisco 49ers.