Are Australian footballers who head over to the United States to pursue NFL careers in punting stealing college scholarships away from young Americans?
New Orleans Saints punter Thomas Morstead and former Colts punter Pat McAfee believe they are, suggesting the current NCAA setup is unfair.
“Don’t get me started about this. I’ve got such a major problem with these guys that they’ve never played pro-football, but they’re basically professionals over there,” Morstead told the Pat McAfee Show.
“And a lot of 17 and 18 year old’s are losing out on scholarship opportunities right now in the NCAA because of these 25, 26, 28, 40-year-old players.
“There’s some great players that have come over from Australia so I’m not saying guys shouldn’t have opportunities, but I think it is a real shame that a lot of 17-year-old kids are not getting the opportunity to go to college that otherwise would have had an opportunity. It is a tough deal for sure.”
Morstead, who has been a punter with the Saints since 2019 and is a former Pro Bowl representative, believes colleges will usually choose the Australians over young Americans given their life experience and maturity.
“Obviously every situation is different and we have seen guys come into the NFL that are Australian or other nationalities that deserve to be there, so I’m not taking away from that,” he said.
“I just think they need to really look at that. A guy who has been an Aussie rules professional for eight years and comes over and steals a scholarship from a kid, I kind of have a problem with that.
“It’s tough to look at a 30-year-old man and a 17-year-old kid where you’re looking at potential and say we know what we’re going to get physically with this guy, he’s already lived a life and had a few beers and we know he’s not going to go off the rails here and I just think and I just think it is a really unfair playing surface.”
Many Australians have made it to the NFL as punters. Currently, Mitch Wishnowsky is at the 49ers, Michael Dickson the Seahawks and Cameron Johnston the Eagles.
Examples of former AFL players transitioning to the NFL as punters includes Sav and Anthony Rocca, Chris Bryan and Ben Graham – the latter being the only man to play in both a Super Bowl and an AFL Grand Final.
Former St Kilda forward Arryn Siposs spent 2018 and 2019 punting for Auburn University and has elected to nominate for the 2020 NFL Draft.
McAfee agreed with Morstead, saying he doesn’t believe he would have been able to compete with the veteran Australian professionals when he was a teenager.
“I agree. It’s so intriguing because you would hope that America and the NCAA could be an opportunity for people to get another opportunity, but that guy who punted for LSU was a 29-year-old guy. I retired at 29!” he said.
“I don’t exactly know how to feel because it’s like, hey, if you get the chance to get a world class education and the chance to maybe have another career, good on you, but man these 17 or 18-year-old kids who haven’t got a chance to fully develop are competing against adults for these positions and there’s not a lot of scholarships out there.
“These 30-year-olds that I’ve met, they’re very nice guys, but you’re competing against these kids who have barely hit puberty yet.
“I would never have got a scholarship if this was happening. This little wild lunatic with a massive leg, but he’s got no idea where it’s going or this guy who has been a professional already from Australia and has a family. Let’s go with the guy who has a kid and has to take care with himself.”
Many have taken to Twitter to question the NFL veterans’, who have been willing to engage in discussions about the complicated situation.
"A lot of 17-18 year olds are losing out on scholarship opportunities because of these 25-26-28.. 40 year old players" - @thomasmorstead on the trend of older professionals from other sports kicking and punting in the NCAA #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/42UgR11Xto
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 15, 2020
Nice one sided chat, you choose a tiny percentage of what’s actually going on and run with it. You just walked into a dark cave with a pointy stick. The LSU guy you referred to is in fact a 29 yr old AMERICAN. #stealingscholarshipsMA this kid is 17, is he stealing one too pic.twitter.com/s1J0pbHXxw
— Prokick Australia (@ProkickAus) January 15, 2020
I understand. Just unfair playing field. If guys want to come over here and try and play professionally over here, no problem with that. There is no clear line of right and wrong. It’s tough.
— Thomas Morstead (@thomasmorstead) January 15, 2020
Personally, I have no Issues with aussies playing NCAA football. They make for great competition for us younger guys. It’s just another factor for younger kids to work harder. Anybody should be able to play the game if they have the talent.
— Josh Carlson (@joshcarlson) January 15, 2020
There are many positions with players from other nationalities in the ncaa that consist of players 25+ because they have eligibility and they want to pursue a college education in America. The Australian punters get labeled as the bad guys because they do their job the best.
— Alex McCourt (@alex_mccourt77) January 15, 2020