'Crazy' moment Aussie star Michael Dickson outsmarted the NFL world
Updated . First published
Australian punter Michael Dickson has reflected on the moment he outsmarted the NFL world in 2021.
The Seahawks star, who is headed to the Super Bowl on Monday, pulled off a punt inspired by his Aussie rules heritage that proved even Fox's NFL analyst wrong.
The moment came about in a match in Seattle against the Rams.
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Dickson attempts to punt the ball in the third quarter, but it is blocked by LA linebacker Jamir Jones.
Chaos breaks out, as it tends to do when a punt is blocked and the ball is live, but Dickson was able to get back to the spinning ball first and scoop it up with one hand.
Michael Dickson scoops the ball up with one hand after the blocked punt. Getty
In this situation, most punters would either dive on the ball to save a touchdown or frivolously attempt to run for a first down.
Dickson flirted with the latter, before coming to a stop and channelling his Aussie rules skillset to snap the ball down the field.
What could have been a complete disaster for the Seahawks turned into a booming 68-yard punt.
But the fact that the Sydney-born star even attempted a second kick confused absolutely everybody.
Fox Sports' lead commentator Joe Buck and former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman immediately agreed that it was an illegal play.
"That's coming back. That's two kicks for the price of one," Buck said on the call.
"The ball went 68 yards on kick number two, but it's not going to count."
The refs clearly thought so too, with multiple flags immediately thrown on the play.
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Dickson's snap that turned into a 68-yard punt. Getty
And Fox's NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira was confident the penalty would stand.
"You can advance the ball once it has been blocked, but no, you can't kick it again," Pereira said, confidently.
You can see where this is going.
While Buck, Aikman and Pereira were discussing the play, they were cut off by one of the referees who stated that there was, in fact, no flag on the play - the punt stands.
Pereira was baffled in the aftermath, but Dickson had a cheeky smile on his face upon hearing the official's announcement.
In simple terms, when a punt is blocked, so long as the ball doesn't cross the line of scrimmage, the punter is allowed to try it again, as long as they themselves also don't advance beyond the line of scrimmage.
Remembering the play vividly, Dickson explained his mindset in the moment.
"It's crazy, I often think back to that play just because of the amount of thoughts and the amount of processing my brain was able to do in a couple of seconds," Dickson told reporters on Thursday.
"Basically I caught the snap and saw the guy had got through the protection before I'd even punted it.
Michael Dickson during Super Bowl week. Getty
"I punted it and knew almost immediately after it left my foot that I would need to try and find the ball to scoop it up and run for a first down, that's priority number one.
"As it was blocked, the first place I looked was where the ball was, which was really lucky, I saw it spinning on its head.
"I thought I had a guy right on my tail, so I was like 'I need to pick this up as fast as possible', so I did a one-handed scoop.
"It's a bit different to Aussie rules because in Aussie rules, guys are manning each other up, you don't have everyone on the field trying to tackle you, whereas in American football, that is the situation. It's not as simple as just picking the ball up and kicking it like in Aussie rules.
"So I scooped it up, was going to try and run for the first down, saw that that was going to be impossible. (I) had a few guys in front of me coming to tackle me.
"I basically just turned around and hit a snap kick and sent it off, knowing that it was possible.
"They threw a flag, I was a little confused, but I was lucky that they reviewed it and it stood."
The 'double punt', as it was known, baffled the NFL world. Thankfully the officials on field eventually worked out that they needed to pick up their flags.
Dickson had his foot effectively on the line of scrimmage as he punted it, showing the fine margins involved.
Seattle coach at the time Pete Carroll was also stunned by the play.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll's reaction. Getty
"That might've been one of the great plays I've ever seen a punter make," Carroll told reporters after the game in 2021.
"One of the great kicking plays in the history of the league."
And moments like that are why Dickson has had such longevity in the NFL.
The Super Bowl will serve as the conclusion of his eighth year with the Seahawks, putting him among the longest tenured punters in the league.
"I'm always trying to experiment with new ways and get creative, that's definitely the fun part of the position, coming up with, with new ways that make the ball hard for the returner to catch," Dickson said.
"I'm always tweaking with that and trying to maintain and improve on the fundamentals of the position as well.
"Just hitting a good ball with good hang time, good direction and good distance, so I'm always working on every aspect of the position."
