The life of an NFL punter: Michael Dickson may make it look easy but danger looms just around the corner

Exclusive interview: The Seattle Seahawks punter’s drop-kick rolled back the clock to a time long gone, but it isn’t as smooth sailing as it seems being the odd one out in an NFL locker room. By Alan Dymock

Seattle Seahawks kicker Michael Dickson has caught the eye in his rookie season in the NFL (Getty )

With two kicks, Michael Dickson simultaneously rolled back the clock and sent it whirring.

In the second round of the NFL season, the rookie Seattle Seahawks punter pulled out a rare drop-kick for a kick-off against the Chicago Bears. He would later attempt another drop-kick in the game, this time for an onside kick as the Seahawks tried in vain to overcome the Bears.

Drop-kicks were all the rage in the 20s and 30s but only a few had been seen since 1941. Then two came at once. The corner of the internet where American Football thrives was abuzz.

Now, on the eve of the Seahawks’ sixth round game against the Oakland Raiders at Wembley this Sunday, the in-form Australian punter considers why everyone got so damned excited.

“I was surprised,” he says of the reaction. “It worked out well – I kicked it to the one (yard line) and it didn’t get much of a return.

“There are more things that you can do with it.

“You can hit shorter ones with more hang, long ones, knuckle ones that are hard to catch. There are all these different ones you can hit. It’s just about getting consistency with it.”

Pressed on whether there really is scope to experiment in the cut-throat NFL, Dickson insists there is – but that different techniques bamboozle different teams. There is a reason the drop-kick hasn’t been used liberally; it will not be effective against every opponent.

Dickson made a name for himself in college before being drafted by the Seahawks (Getty ) (Getty)

The world for Dickson must be an exciting place. In AFL, the Sydney native grabbed eyes with his lengthy spiral. He had joked about giving the NFL a go, but in March 2015 he left Aussie Rules behind to focus on punting. By September he was playing college ball in Texas. Three years later, after being named the best punter in college football, the Seahawks drafted him.

Like his punting opponent on Sunday, the Raiders’ Johnny Townsend, Dickson is new to the NFL. But the life of a punter can be a tumultuous one if you want to hang around for years.

“I felt like I was living out a suitcase my whole career,” says Mike Horan, who was a few days shy of 41 when he won a Super Bowl with the St Louis Rams in 1999. His was a 16-year career, speckled with moves.

He wasn’t the only one. “I played on ten teams in 16 years,” explains former kicker Mitch Berger, who won the Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009.

Mike Horan is well aware of what it takes as a punter to reach the very top (Getty ) (Getty)

Both men talk of the grind: the tenacity needed to make it as an NFL punter. There were periods when both veterans had to hit the road, going for try-outs at an array of franchises as they attempted to take someone else’s job. When a kicker is out of form for even a few weeks, coaches show all the tenderness of wolves.

At one point early on, Berger was pumping gas for $7 an hour, between gigs. Horan could fall back on a mechanical engineering degree, and did in the early 80s. He had to keep sharp though, if he wanted to get that next job.

He harks back: “I would kick footballs on my lunch break. My wife Kim would meet me. She was either throwing me snaps or helping me gather up the footballs. So I would kick probably no more than 100 balls a day.

“You never knew when the call would come.”

Mitch Berger felt the full perils of being an NFL punter (Getty ) (Getty)

For his part, Dickson acknowledges this potential future of hustling to stay in the game. Realistic, but no less driven, he says, “I was always confident that I was going to get a job,” but insists that if things stop going exceptionally well where he is, he has the belief and skills to make things work elsewhere.

So what is it like as a punter?

Berger explains: “It’s a lot like being a golfer. You have to be mentally strong. You’re by yourself; you practice by yourself.

“Being a gunslinger is a good way of putting it. You’ve got to be able to go anywhere any time and be able to perform because the standards are the same everywhere. Catch it, kick it, get it off in a certain amount of time or it’s going to get blocked. Certain hang times, certain distances are acceptable and if you don’t come up with it they’ll get somebody else.”

This strikes a chord with young Dickson. He enjoys that ‘gunslinger’ tag. He sees the isolation too, acknowledging that even with his best plays, he sends a kick forth and team-mates hunt it down as he stands some 40 yards away from the thwack and awe.

Dickson (left) pictured with Seattle kicker Sebastian Janikowski (Getty ) (Getty)

The Aussie kicker has looked nerveless and, importantly, accurate so far in his rookie season. On his debut he made an average of just over 59 yards with six punts, a colossal tally. In the same game he landed four punts inside the 20 and two inside the six. Afterwards, his head coach Pete Carroll said: “Oh my gosh, what a kicker, man.”

Yet, exiled amongst friends, the punter’s life is one of constant pressure. You are either sending your team away from the danger of your own end-zone, or you are trying to trap the enemy near theirs. It is obvious where the finger points if it all goes wobbly.

Which makes it all the more refreshing to see young players thriving, utilising seldom-seen techniques.

Berger loves seeing that too, but he does have a stark warning. “You can do the viral stuff all you want but it comes down to being trusted by your team to make the plays, when you need to at crunch time. That’s sticking it inside the ten at the end of the game, or getting one out of the end-zone and getting the team out of trouble.

Dickson has utilised different kicking techniques against certain opponents (Getty ) (Getty)

“Having the time of your lives is very short if you aren’t consistent and you don’t get the job done. Because there’s a lot of guys waiting for your job, just waiting for you to screw up.”

Undoubtedly Dickson knows this. His opponent on Sunday, Townsend will know it hard too. However, you have to revel in these moments. The Seahawks are two from five, while the Raiders have only won one, but this is not just another game in the NFL. They are in London. As rookies.

Dickson considers what lies ahead this Sunday. “My friends back home who are into soccer are probably even more excited than I am, because they know all about it. But I’m excited to play here for sure.”