(For the full story of Australians in the NFL, click on this link for my feature in the Los Angeles Times- http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-1102-aussie-punters-20101102,0,3042213.story)
He has been called by Dallas Cowboys’ all-pro punter Mat McBriar as the “Godfather of Australian punting”. Bennett, a native of Sydney, followed a brilliant career Down Under in Aussie Rules football (AFL) to help pioneer a path for Australians by succeeding in the NFL.
The former full forward for the Melbourne Demons, who went on to excel for the San Diego Chargers and was named to the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade Team, is credited for the introduction into the NFL of the “Aussie Rules kick” or “Drop Punt” as it is known in Australia. The technique was instrumental in the advancement of Australians into the NFL. Currently more than half of the punters in pro football make use of the Aussie Rules punt in pooch-punt situations.
Is it correct that you were the first AFL player to be a punter in the NFL?
There was a guy from the VFL Colin Ridgeway in the 60s who played 3 games for the Cowboys, but otherwise I was the first.
AFL to the NFL, talk about the process that came about for that to happen to you.
We played an exhibition game at the end of the season called the Fosters Cup series. Every year we’d have a long kicking contest within the AFL ranks. After my knee injury and first year in Melbourne I won the long kicking contest then we went to play against Geelong in Toronto at the Sky Dome. At halftime they kept me out on the field where I had a kicking contest against the Toronto Argonauts punter in 1989. He punted a couple Aussie rules footballs and I punted the Canadian ball. I crushed them and he said “you should try this sport’. I felt I could punt their ball, so I bought a ball while I was there and every off season for the rest of my AFL days until `1993 when I retired I punted the heck out of it.
I’ve always had bad knees during my career, as I was ending my AFL days I was only 28 and thought there had to be something more out there. The strength coach at Melbourne had been to America and had NFL contacts including someone who had dietary and strength software programs NFL teams were using and at the combine in Indianapolis.
He made a call and the Chargers said they’d take a look at me. In my last year of the AFL I won a long-kicking contest in Australia and funny enough the guy I beat was a 19 year- old Ben Graham in 1992. He was just starting his career at Geelong. The prize was two tickets to Los Angeles. Twelve months later I married Rosemary and we used it as a honeymoon trip. Got a tryout with the Chargers. Marty Hearny and Bobby Beathard Bill Devane, now the GM at St Louis, we went into stadium and hit 10 punts out of my hand with no snap. Next day they took me out on the practice field where I worked with a long snapper after their practice.
What was your position in the AFL?
Full forward.
In America there is the proverbial father-son catch, is there an equivalent father-son, kick? In other words, what advantage did your upbringing have over someone coming through the CFB ranks?
The torpedo punt or spiral as it is called we used a lot in the AFL years ago, but not anymore. When they start ou,t kids always want to kick it as far as they can so they try the torpedo style. So it is something we have practiced but rarely used in a game, maybe once or twice a year. It is the most spectacular because if you let one rip it goes 80 meters. But it is not an accurate kick nor one we use regularly in a game.
Talking with others in San Diego who coach punters and kickers, we are the only experts in the world. Thousands of hours of kicking practice growing up. No one practices for thousands of hours to punt. But Australian rules sort of translates the same skills across. So we can bring that. I teach some at USC and I joke but not really joking that I can pull a guy of the street out of the AFL give him 2 weeks and he’d be as good as any American you can find. The reason is that he has a strong leg.
No punting technique but if you give him just a little instruction, that leg strength built since kicking from the age of 3, will overpower the same kicker from America. An American kick may punt about 5,000 times, the Aussie kid may hit 5,000 in a month. Running round kicking to each other all the time, so the leg strength is already developed. Americans are thinking more of being the Tom Bradys or Chad Ochocincos of the world, not a kicker.
The hard thing for an Australian is technique, they don’t have any. I break them down and give some instruction which allows them to become more consistent. If you ask an Aussie how he is doing’ he’ll say ‘oh mate I am crushing the ball’ they talk distance and hang time, but also don’t understand that shanking 7 out of 20 is not good. They don’t understand the importance of consistency.
I spent time punting with Ben and Sav early on and three years with Mat McBriar. We have them punt two or three days straight to wear them out so they have no leg left. Once their leg is all ragged out and can’t lift it up any more, THAT is when we have their attention and teach them technique and make them punt again.
What is the science of a drop punt and its technical operation, compared to American football’s traditional spiral punt which you call a torpedo punt and why is it so effective?
One of the things I noticed when I first got here is when you get past the 50, guys abbreviate their leg swing to try and stop the ball from going into the end zone. Even then, if you make beautiful contact with a spiral punt you can’t control within 15-20 yards where that thing is going to go. It is frustrating to the coaches when you get a punter just outside field goal range, and he puts it through the uprights.
I always had the Aussie drop punt in my back pocket. And during my days in NFL Europe, Al Lugenbill allowed me to use it. You can’t get enough hang time as a spiral punt, but you can get enough for your teammates to cover that shortened punt. You can also control the yard line you bounce the ball out at because it is a more consistent and accurate kick. Thirdly you don’t have to change your leg swing, you just move where you drop the ball. Once you learn to gauge how far to drop the ball for yardage i.e. the 35 yard kick you drop it here etc. then it really becomes their safety punt. Don’t ever have to worry about shanking the punt. The old benchmark was punters would land the ball at the 10 now they are aiming at the 7 or 5. Defensive coordinators love it because their team is often now on a 95-yard field as a result.
So then, is the drop punt only used in “pooch punt” situations and are non-Aussie punters in the NFL now trying it and coming to you for advice?
Ben Graham is the only one that uses it in “other” situations in a traditional field punt. That is because he is very strong and he punts in Arizona (domed stadium). That is the problem with the drop punt, when you try to hit it into the wind, it doesn’t go anywhere.
I spoke with Tom Quinn special teams coach NY Giants because the November winds the best drop punt he is going to get is 25 yards. The spiral cuts through the wind so there is still a place for that traditional kick.
Australians, because they are brought up kicking to a moving target, are very good at accurately placing a drop punt. Mike Scifres learned it and would do this with Kasseem Osgood just playing catch via the kick.
The returner is taught not to catch the ball inside the 10. So with the drop punt in a pooch situation, you take the ball out of the returner’s hands. Your gunner can have confidence to just run down there and catch the ball deep within the 10.. A lot of the punters just play catch with their favorite gunner on the left or right. It has taken a lot of the touchbacks out of the game
The great respect for that punt is clearly evident in the fact that about 20 players in the league are now adopting it as their own. They have learned it with no relationship to any Australian, they have learned it on film.
I saw Shane Lechler use it. That is the benefit of the drop punt, and they have learned they can now swing hard no matter what the distance is. The danger of abbreviating is that one often shanks the kick as a result. All of a sudden the ball goes out of bounds on the 26 yard line then the coach really hates you.
So again what is the technical difference between the spiral and drop punt?
For the drop punt you hold the nose down. If you drop the nose down on a spiral you are going to shank it whereas a drop punt you strike it through the foot from the back of the ball through the laces and make it spin end over end starting from that nose down position.
The spiral is more of a glancing punt. Your foot hits more of the edge of the ball to make it spin whereas the drop punt your foot goes through the fattest part of the ball, right in the middle of the ball. They are basically the same leg swing it is just that your foot contacts the ball in a different spot. Once they learn that and how to gauge distance, it is quite an effective tool.
Why do you think Australia/AFL can be a breeding ground for a role player in the NFL?
It really can. All guys coming across think they can do it. Not true. I have had some quality AFL players that came over and could not transfer that skill. For many it is not a question of leg strength, but the other things. Like Sav Rocca’s brother. He came over and crushed the ball, but decided he did not want to live in America. It is a big transition to come and live on the other side of the world. Some guys can handle it, others cannot.
There is an Australian thing that we will have a go at anything. However, we get protective of who is coming over as there are only so many opportunities in the NFL and if a guy comes across unprepared and screws it up then the American coaches start to go ’well I don’t really want to see another Australian the last one stuffed us’.
Chris Bryan came across and he’s down in Tampa Bay. He’s the one guy that has come through that we have had nothing to do with. He’s done well and hopefully he holds on to that job for the whole season. He’s a typical rookie trying to get used to that system and see how things work.
We just want to make sure these guys REALLY want to do this. Not just decide in five minutes to have their agent call someone in America for a tryout. I would hate for another Ben Graham, Mat McBriar or Sav Rocca come through and be denied an opportunity because some guy turned up off the street not prepared for the challenges on and off the field.
What makes it more difficult to handle for a returner than a traditional spiral punt or does it?
Some that don’t return kick offs because they can’t handle the end over end spin. But those that do are also taught ever to catch the ball inside the 10 because the consequences of dropping it there are usually a touchdown. So we take advantage of that by aiming at the 5 knowing the punt returner is never going to catch it. The other great thing about the drop punt is that because it spins end over end, once it hits the ground it either goes dead straight forward or dead straight backwards or straight up in the air. That makes it a lot easier for the gunners to judge when it is flying through the air. When a spiral punt bounces on its point no one has any idea which direction it is going to bounce. For a drop punt gunners only have to cover only a 4-5 foot lane. Every once in a while you will get unlucky with a roll of a drop punt overall its consistency is much higher than the traditional American’s spiral punt.
Looking to the future whether CFB or NFL, what happens once the returners get used to the drop punt, talk about the boomerang or banana punt.
It will never be used in the NFL. It is a circus kick. There is no use for it. The drop punt takes away the inconsistencies of the boomerang kicks. What is the purpose of it? It is so easy to shank that kick by hitting the point of the ball why not turn sideways and hit a drop punt in the same direction. If it has a place it is from the 35 yard line when you are going to kick it to the 15. It is such an inconsistent kick. Craig Hentrich from Tennessee who just retired, couldn’t drop punt but developed a “knuckle” punt so it would float and not spin at all. He used it in pooch punts and it was difficult to catch. For me in pooch punt situations you’re not really trying to get the returner to mishandle the ball you’re trying to keep your defense on a long field. If you use the banana in that situation you are more likely to shank it out of bounds too short or into the end zone thus defeating the purpose of the drop punt.
Because the drop is so consistent that you can drop it wherever you want, a lot of defenses stay and rush the punt so I found a lot of players who hit drop punts they don’t rush the punts anymore. Because there is such a consistent rhythm whereas you move the ball 18 inches off center for a spiral kick you will shank it every time. That is another advantage of the drop punt is that a lot of players won’t rush in that situation because they know you can do all sorts of things with the drop to avoid a block so it is a waste of time for the defenders to try and block it.
Thank you Darren.
One last thing. Please use your influence and BRING BACK THE LAB COAT to the AFL Refs. They are iconic!
During the exhibition in Toronto the goal umpires were stunned because they had their own cheering section. Fans loved the lab coats.
