Speaker 1: Our next guest is an NFL football star from Australia
Speaker 1: who's made a.
Speaker 2: Reputation for being one of the best punters in the game.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, if I'm a scout, I'm going
Speaker 1: to Australia.
Speaker 3: I want to fight me another one alone tonight.
Speaker 4: His team, the Seattle Seahawks, are in the Super Bowl
Speaker 4: Finals place. Welcome to the show, Michael Dixon.
Speaker 3: Good morning morning.
Speaker 5: I mean, what time is it where you are? We're
Speaker 5: saying good afternoon, good night, good evening.
Speaker 3: No, it's eleven eighteen am.
Speaker 5: Okay, so it's still good morning.
Speaker 4: How's yeah? Yeah, how's big filler? What is your world spinning?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean the last couple of the days, just trying
Speaker 1: to handle logistics and family and hotels and everything like that.
Speaker 3: It was a bit hectic and trying to find like
Speaker 3: a suit for the Super Bowl. But now it's seems like.
Speaker 1: It's just normal, normal routine, getting my reps in and
Speaker 1: doing my thing.
Speaker 6: Is that the mindset you've got to get into this week,
Speaker 6: that it's just like another normal week.
Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 1: Well, so we have like a week at the facility
Speaker 1: and then we have another week once we get to.
Speaker 3: San Fran of practice and media and prep.
Speaker 1: So it's a bit of a longer gap between games,
Speaker 1: but really just viewing it as another game.
Speaker 5: Can you believe that this is your life a boy
Speaker 5: from Sydney who is representing the entire country like Australia
Speaker 5: are all behind you in the Super Bowl?
Speaker 3: Nah?
Speaker 1: I mean it's going to be one of those things
Speaker 1: that I get through it and kind of embrace it
Speaker 1: during the moment, but really look back at and being disbelief.
Speaker 3: There's been a few moments in my career.
Speaker 1: Where I've had that that chance to reflect and it's
Speaker 1: been incredible.
Speaker 3: So I'm looking forward to that now.
Speaker 4: No pressure.
Speaker 2: Can we call you Dicko by the way, of course,
Speaker 2: no pressure. But we're coming as well. We'll be at
Speaker 2: the super Bowl. We're bringing the show.
Speaker 4: So we're bringing the entire show just for you. Who
Speaker 4: have you got coming from? Oz?
Speaker 1: My parents, sister, brother in law, niece, nephew.
Speaker 3: And then my wife's parents, brother.
Speaker 4: Dicko.
Speaker 6: How how far back of people come out of the woodwork,
Speaker 6: like as a primary school mate reached out gone, I
Speaker 6: always wanted to stay in contact me in any chance
Speaker 6: of tickets.
Speaker 1: Nah, I mean it's all been love and support from
Speaker 1: friends that I've grown up with and I love it.
Speaker 1: No one's ever asking for a handout or anything. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I've really had really good people in my life. To
Speaker 1: be honest, I don't really deal with much of that.
Speaker 5: Hey, dick O, Now you grew up in Sydney and
Speaker 5: then you started at the Sydney Swans Academy. Is that right?
Speaker 5: And then you transferred over to the States to become
Speaker 5: a punter. Can you just give us a snippet of
Speaker 5: how that process worked.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I was in the Swansea Academy from age fifteen
Speaker 1: to eighteen or fourteen to eighteen, and then I was
Speaker 1: hoping to get drafted in play by a team in
Speaker 1: the AFL. That didn't happen, and I kind of wasn't
Speaker 1: loving the team that I was at at the time,
Speaker 1: so thought I'd take a gap year from footing. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, while I took the gap year, I thought,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm going to try and give this punting
Speaker 1: thing a go because I would hit torpies in Aussie
Speaker 1: rules and guys would often say you should give American
Speaker 1: footballer cracks. So I found a guy my stepdad found
Speaker 1: found a guy who coached Izzi guys to get to
Speaker 1: the US and reached out to him, had a trial,
Speaker 1: trained with him for a few months in Melbourne, then
Speaker 1: had a scholarship offer from Texas, played there for a
Speaker 1: few years and got drafted, so it was like really
Speaker 1: draftid fighter.
Speaker 4: Iback for the D's and thereafter a key forward Richmond
Speaker 4: need one. To be honest, I think he's coming back.
Speaker 5: Who were the players who you sort of who you
Speaker 5: followed and you admired when you were watching from the
Speaker 5: sidelines or when you're an up and coming punter.
Speaker 1: So I didn't really watch too many American guys. I
Speaker 1: would I always had a fast fascination with kicking the
Speaker 1: foot of those so I had on like vhs the
Speaker 1: tapes of like the longest best AFL goals, and it
Speaker 1: would always be like, you know, sav Rocca Anty Rocker,
Speaker 1: So I'd always try and mimic that when I would
Speaker 1: kick the footy before practice warming up. So I'd always
Speaker 1: look at those guys, and I think that's probably how
Speaker 1: I developed some of my skills from watching those tapes.
Speaker 6: When a lot of Americans come out here and they'll
Speaker 6: go to the football and watch IFL and they're like,
Speaker 6: I don't know how these guys do it. They're not
Speaker 6: wearing any pads.
Speaker 4: It's you know, it looks barbaric.
Speaker 6: Hit on an AFL field compared to being hit on
Speaker 6: an NFL field all the pads and helmet, you still
Speaker 6: feel it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the pads and helmet.
Speaker 1: It's not like you're not like wrapped in bubble wrap
Speaker 1: like the guys way, you know, twice the wait and
Speaker 1: it's all about being explosive and it's head on. Some
Speaker 1: of the hits these guys deliver are insane. Not saying
Speaker 1: that Buzzie Rules doesn't have some crazy hits as well,
Speaker 1: but for the most part, some of the hits in
Speaker 1: the NFL maybe a bit more consistent, right.
Speaker 2: Okay, getting it? Yeah, Now, Jason and I are big
Speaker 2: Seahawks fans. Now, Lauren, who are you do? You want
Speaker 2: to tell Dicko who you're You're Seahawks?
Speaker 5: Really was even a little last minute change now that
Speaker 5: Dicko and I are made right, one of my very
Speaker 5: good friends is from Boston and at the start of
Speaker 5: the season he told me to barrack for the New
Speaker 5: England Patriots. But now that Dicko and I are very
Speaker 5: good mates, obviously because we're on the Seahawks.
Speaker 2: As we were saying, we will be there. We're going
Speaker 2: to the super Bowl. We're taking the show to the States.
Speaker 2: Is there anything we should do? Anyone we should meet?
Speaker 4: Parties? You can get us into decoy?
Speaker 3: No, I mean and wrong person?
Speaker 6: No, no, no, I got one for you. Who on your
Speaker 6: family is a bit of a loose unit? Who we
Speaker 6: should get on the show while we're while we're over there?
Speaker 3: Is is your mum?
Speaker 4: A bit of fun? They are super Bowl first. They
Speaker 4: are focused on the press.
Speaker 6: Yeah or he knows his mumble embarrass him and he's
Speaker 6: playing it down. Well mate, Honestly, we could not be
Speaker 6: happier for you. You've worked your ass off to get
Speaker 6: to where you are and you're on the world stage.
Speaker 6: I hope you enjoy every moment of it.
Speaker 3: I appreciate it. Guys. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Hey, we'll bring a sign, okay, so you're to see.
Speaker 5: Us to us johnnys on the good luck, have a
Speaker 5: great week leading up to the super Bowl as well,
Speaker 5: and we'll see you over there to go.
Speaker 3: All right? Sounds good, Lauren, wake up feeling good. Following
Speaker 3: them on the Socials
Speaker 5: Yeah,