Australian punter Michael Dickson makes Super Bowl history with Seattle Seahawks

Australian punter Michael Dickson has become only the third Australian to win a Super Bowl ring - and the second in as many years - after his Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29–13.

His success comes hot on the heels of fellow New South Welshman Jordan Mailata, who won the biggest title in US sport last year with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Sydney product - the Seahawks’ longest-serving player, in his eighth season - averaged 47.5 yards on seven punts and was faultless holding for Jason Myers’ five-of-five field goals.

Dickson’s well directed, right-footed cannons regularly pinned the Pats deep in their own end.

He had commentators raving when a final-quarter, 55-yard bomb settled one yard from the goal line to snuff out any hopes of a New England comeback.

He was also praised in the second quarter for a superb punt that helped set Seattle on the path to Super Bowl glory.

Dickson’s punt with five minutes remaining bounced marginally inside the field of play, and went out just a few yards before reaching the end zone, to stifle New England.

It meant the Patriots were pinned close to their own end zone - rather than starting their drive from the 25-yard line if the kick had crossed the line.

“Dickson hangs it, trying to pin it... right by the one-yard line,” broadcaster Mike Tirico said on the call.

“Well done. The kick was brilliant.”

Dickson grew up playing Australian Rules Football and earned a University of Texas scholarship after a standout performance at a ProKick Australia tryout in 2015, a year after being overlooked in the AFL draft while a member of the Sydney Swans Academy.

Dickson has played with the Seahawks since 2018 and is widely regarded as the NFL’s best punter — and he’s certainly the best paid. In June, he signed a $A23.25 million, four‑year contract extension.

After being selected in the fifth round, he earned First‑Team All‑Pro honours and a Pro Bowl selection in his rookie season.

The 30‑year‑old had made 556 punts totalling 26,829 yards heading into today’s game and was called on several times during the low‑scoring Super Bowl. His longest punt is a staggering 72 yards.

He has an unrivalled list of NFL honours for an Australian.

Twice an All‑Pro (2018 and last year). All‑Rookie Team (2018). Twice an All‑American in the college ranks (2016, 2017). Winner of the coveted Ray Guy Award for the best college punter (2017). Twice named college special teams player of the year (2016, 2017). Voted among the Seahawks’ top 50 players of all time.

One of his former Kirrawee High School teachers Matt Scott said Dickson was “a quiet, fluffy-haired kid who just wanted to do everything”.

Dickson is the fourth Australian punter to feature in a Super Bowl. The others - Ben Graham (Arizona, 2009), Mitch Wishnowsky (San Francisco, 2020) and Arryn Siposs (Philadelphia, 2023) - all played in losses.

The Eagles’ Bankstown-born Mailata had been the sole Aussie to play in a triumph in the grandest game in American sport.

Only one other Australian, Jesse Williams, has a coveted Super Bowl ring. He was on Seattle’s roster in 2014 but didn’t play that season due to a knee injury.

Former Australian Rules footballer Nathan Chapman said he knew Dickson was something special the moment he joined ProKick Australia, the training academy Chapman founded in 2007 that has since become a wildly successful breeding ground for Australian kickers and punters.

“His professionalism, dedication and relentless work ethic - he just didn’t stop,” Chapman said last week.

“We knew he could kick a football.

“And there were some things to learn. His ability to pick it up and then put his own touch on it was really cool to watch.

“It didn’t take long for us to work out that he could play.

“Hence why we gave him the opportunity at Texas. You don’t just walk in there unless you can compete at that level.”

The Aussie earned rave reviews not just for his punting, but for an innate tactical nous.

“That is what has been so impressive about him,” Chapman said.

“His ability to see the game and be able to produce so many different kicks under the pressure that he has been under, and deliver at such a high level.

“They have all got their own craft attached to it, the different kind of kicks.

“His ability to see something, in what seems like slow motion, and make the right choice is really impressive.

“Drop punt kicks, banana kicks, long kicks, short kicks, cross-field - you name it.

“It’s like a game to him and he loves playing it; it’s like a game of ‘what are we going to do now to disrupt the opposition’.”

Can that uncanny ability be taught, or is it inherent?

“It’s a bit of both,” Chapman said.

“Confidence comes into that. If you’ve got a coach who lets you do your thing and you can deliver for him, you build off that.

“Some coaches walk up and say: ‘If you get this wrong, then you’re off the team’.

“There’s a real coach-player connection that is needed. You have got to be on the same page.

“The special teams coaches are in control of the long snap of the kicker, the linemen, the gunners - there’s 11 people all running around.

“And often the special teams coach has never kicked a ball before in their life.

“So they look after the structural system to protect you so you can do your job.

“There’s certain nuances that you know as an athlete or a footballer kicking the ball - what works for distance and hang time and location.

“They have trusted him. They have never doubted him. And he has paid them back in spades.”

Dickson is now a poster boy for Prokick Australia.

The academy currently has six Australian alumni playing in the NFL and between about 80 and 85 in US college ranks.

Overall, Prokick Australia was “in the 400s” when it came to numbers of alumni granted US college scholarships, Chapman said.

“When I wrote out a business plan, the business plan that was written was probably where it is now,” he said.

“I really thought that we would get 30 to 50 guys scholarships every year.

“I didn’t realise it was going to take 12, 13 years for that to eventuate; I didn’t realise how hard it was going to be at the start.

“So in one sense, yeah, I thought this can be done. It just took 12 years of hard work to be where it is.”