Okay, so I'm sure the NFL is liked by many outside of the US. But it's clear that the other type of football AKA soccer, is a HUGE phenomena throughout the rest of the world.

However I received a great email from an Aussie with some great info regard a fellow Aussie that played in this past weekend's Super Bowl. I'm a huge fan of learning the intangibles in sports, so I just thought that I would share. Anyway, here is some of the email sent to me. It's an interesting story. Hope you enjoy:

"I'm an Australian sportscaster who loves my NFL, and just stumbled across your blog.

Look, I want to point out a stat for you to tell all your football-loving friends and foes.

In this year's Super Bowl, for the first time in history, an Australian is participating.

Yep, a fully-fledged Aussie, not someone born here, that moved to America when they were like 2, an actual, dinky-di, "fair dinkum", true blue Aussie.

His name is Ben Graham, and he is from my home town of Geelong, Australia.

Ben is the punter for Arizona, having been recruited by the Cardinals late in the regular season.



"Graham hails from the Geelong suburb of Leopold and is 35 years of age. He began his NFL career in 2005 with the New York Jets, where upon making his debut, he was the eldest NFL opening day rookie in history at 31 (that record has since been taken by Saverio Rocca).

Ben is extremely well-known here in Australia, as he played professional Australian Rules football for the Geelong Cats until 2004, when he shocked the Aussie football world by quitting prematurely to head to America and try his luck in a professional punting career.

Graham was attempting to follow in the footsteps of Australian NFL punting trailblazer, Darren Bennett, who played for San Diego and Minnesota between 1995-2004. Bennett also played professional Australian Rules football prior to heading Stateside.

Ben Graham's opposing punter in the NFC Championship game last weekend was another Aussie, Philadelphia's Saverio Rocca, who again had a storied career in professional Australian Rules football.



"Australian punters will only become a growing phenomena in NFL football, as there are now specific academies set up here in Melbourne to help fledgling young punters hone their crafts, with scholarships to America on offer to the best of the bunch.

Australian Rules football is very similar to the way an American football is punted, and thus kids grow up here learning to kick an oval-shaped ball in the same vein as an American punt kick.

This also has allowed Australians to innovate when it comes to needing to punt shorter distances, with Darren Bennett introducing what is known in America as the "Aussie" punt, a punt that travels end-over-end. The Australian terminology for such a punt is a "drop punt", the most common form of kicking in Australian Rules.

I hope you find this information useful, and hopefully we can get some airtime for what will be a huge rarity in American football."