EXCLUSIVE: Michael Dickson's journey to Super Bowl stardom done 'the hard way' after AFL rejection

For the second year in a row an Australian will play in the Super Bowl in a boon for the NFL, which will stage its first ever regular season game in Melbourne later in 2026.

Michael Dickson will look to join Jordan Mailata as the second Aussie player to win a Super Bowl that made the field, further promoting the abilities of athletes who started their NFL journeys Down Under.

Yet their individual journeys have been completely different.

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Mailata was scouted by the International Pathways Program, while Dickson went through the college system, via the Pro-Kick program.

Dickson is the longest-tenured Seahawks player, earned second-team All-Pro honours this season and has been stellar in the playoffs.

Last year, Dickson was voted in the top 50 Seahawks of all time, a remarkable feat for a player who only took up the game after dreams of playing AFL became unrealistic.

Dickson had his heart set on playing Aussie rules and was a product of the Sydney Swans Academy.

He played with likes of Callum Mills and Isaac Heeney in the 2014 NEAFL grand final, yet his name was not called in the national and rookie drafts.

"Isaac (Heeney) was the standout and everyone was talking about him in terms of recruiting but Michael was someone that we always wanted," Swans great and former head of the academy Jared Crouch told SEN Radio last week.

"He was a great defender, disciplined, athletic.

"He probably could have been a Sam Wicks, he could have been a Jordan Foote — a guy who just needed a chance.

"But he probably chose the best path out of all of them anyway."

Dickson put pen to paper on a four-year extension worth around $23 million in 2025, which made him the NFL's highest-paid punter.

Those kind of numbers can only be dreamed about in Australian sports, with the highest paid players in the NRL and AFL making roughly between $1-1.5 million a year.

Unlike his former AFL counterparts, who have to contend with blind side hits and a myriad other things that could lead to a concussion, Dickson's sole focus is on putting boot to ball, although the moment that put him in the spotlight showcased so much more.

In 2021, Dickson picked up a blocked punt with one hand, beat a defender and then punted again to make a gain of 68 yards. It was dubbed the "double punt" in the US media and was a perfect display of the skills he picked up in the AFL.

That sort of play is seen in the AFL all the time and would come as no shock to sport fans in Australia.

But in the US, that sort of athleticism is seldom seen in punters or kickers, leading to wide praise from the NFL world. Dickson was already on the map at that stage, yet it further solidified his reputation as arguably one of the best punters in the game.

Will Bryce is the head of the NFL Asia Pacific Academy and spends plenty of time recruiting elite athletes into the newly formed program.

Bryce worked with Mailata before he graduated to being one of the best left tackles in the sport, and said the Australian codes provide a solid base of skills for athletes to take their talents to the NFL.

He credited the AFL, and the skills needed to succeed in the code, for giving Dickson an edge in the position.

"The game of AFL is very different to rugby," he told Wide World of Sports.

"You have contested catches and spatial awareness playing in 360 degrees of space.

"You're having to track the ball in the air more. Move in all different types of directions, which is more, you know, akin to football (NFL).

"So you can see that translate. We saw that with Patrick Murtagh who came through the international program as well.

"He had an AFL background. He's now on the Denver Broncos. Played AFL for the Suns and that's what you saw in Pat is someone who has really good hand-eye coordination, time his jumps, go and take the ball out of the air."

Bryce said the other aspect is professionalism and Dickson would have had a taste of that at the Swans.

"They're the easiest things you can see, and they're like anything like being in an organised sport, even at the professional level or academy levels.

"I think that structure, learning how to be a pro, managing your time, looking after your body, all those, the education and the other things that you build along the way, there's a lot of value in that.

"If you're gonna come out of one sport into another sport which has a lot of organisation, a lot more meetings, a lot more structure... a lot more emphasis on details... Then it's definitely an important factor."

The Seahawks traded up to draft Dickson in the fifth round in 2018 following a college stint at Texas via the Pro-Kick program in Melbourne.

After accepting a scholarship and a few mistakes in his rookie year, Dickson made his mark when he became the first non-offensive player to be named MVP in Texas Bowl history, landing 10 punts inside the 20.

According to Bryce, Dickson's ascent to the NFL is all the more remarkable considering he did it "the hard way" as opposed to several Aussie players these days, who can now get a look in via the International Players Pathway program and the NFL Academy on the Gold Coast.

"Michael pursued that opportunity himself. Kind of went near the hard way, but the right way about it.

"He went through college and went through that sacrifice, and it says a lot again about him and how he's wired and his make-up to have success.

"I don't think it's ever been easier to be identified at the moment than what it is in the current climate.

"You've got the use of the Internet and social media, all these kicking camps and all the like the companies that do these pathways, the NFL Academy, the NFL's invested in youth development programs on different sides of the world.

"We're working with colleges, we're working with the NFL, our clubs, we've added an extra roster spot onto the practice squad that they can use for any position.

"So it's never been easier to be found."

The Seahawks take on the Patriots in the Super Bowl on Monday.