{"id":8569,"date":"2026-09-06T15:17:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569"},"modified":"2026-09-06T15:17:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:17:56","slug":"australias-pipeline-to-the-nfl-includes-talent-not-just-eyeballs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569","title":{"rendered":"Australia’s pipeline to the NFL includes talent, not just eyeballs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

MELBOURNE, Australia \u2013 Troy Wykes lifted his T-shirt sleeve to show a red-inked 49ers tattoo on his right biceps. He\u2019s been a fan since 1994.<\/p>\n

Read more Cupertino candidates run as slate in bid for council majority<\/a><\/p>\n

Yep, that is the last season they won a Super Bowl, capping a five-ring run that began in 1981 and nourished an international fan base.<\/p>\n

As president of American Football Queensland, Wykes is committed to developing the next generation of Aussies in this foreign sport, which is coping with enrollment challenges here as it is in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t do too much with flag football. That\u2019s one of the reasons why they named me the president of American Football Queensland. They wanted someone that still cared about the original game,\u201d Wykes said in a video call this past week. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of care about flag but everyone is forgetting about tackle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flag football is indeed surging. A big push comes from the NFL, whose unabashed motive is to grow the game: Flag football won\u2019t just debut in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles but continue on to 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, Wykes\u2019 backyard.<\/p>\n

Commendable as that is, the 49ers and the Rams are playing tackle football at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the NFL\u2019s regular-season debut in Australia. Kickoff is Thursday at 5:35 pm PT (Friday at 10:35 am AUST).<\/p>\n

\u201cI bought a ticket straight away for $200,\u201d Wykes said. \u201cI waited two hours before so I was in the queue but the system didn\u2019t pause to let you buy more than one.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is not alone in his appetite for the NFL and American football, even if the country\u2019s top sport is, depending on the region, either Australian rules football (a k a \u201cfootie\u201d for the Australian Football League) or rugby league with its National Rugby League and State of Origin three-match series.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cA lot of people know about American football but don\u2019t know we play it,\u201d Wykes added.<\/p>\n

Seven Aussies made the NFL\u2019s 53-man roster cut last week: Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata, Jacksonville Jaguars guard Dan Faalele, and punters Michael Dickson (Seattle Seahawks), Tory Taylor (Chicago Bears), Jeremy Crawshaw (Denver Broncos), Cam Johnston (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Brett Thorson (Minnesota Vikings). Faalele, Taylor and Thorson are Melbourne natives.<\/p>\n

Mailata and Dickson celebrated Super Bowl wins the past two seasons, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cMailata is not just a poster child for the NFL in Australia but for their international talent presence across the world,\u201d said Laurie Horesh, ESPN\u2019s Australia-based NFL expert. \u201cIt\u2019s not just on the field, but how jovial he is, how good he is with media, and his (family charity) foundation. He\u2019s the complete package.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Although no Australians are on the 49ers\u2019 or Rams\u2019 53-man rosters, undrafted rookie punter Jack Bouwmeester is on the Rams\u2019 practice squad after starting training camp with the 49ers. Bouwmeester got his start working with Prokick Australia, an organization that has pumped out several NFL prospects, including former 49ers punter Mitch Wishnowsky, who is now on the New England Patriots\u2019 practice squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just a couple of blokes trying to give opportunities to guys and some have gone on to do cool stuff,\u201d said Nathan Chapman, owner and founder of Prokick Australia, which specializes in punters and kickers.<\/p>\n

Over 400 Prokick prospects have landed scholarships to American colleges.<\/p>\n

And now the NFL has landed in Australia, the furthest away from the U.S. it has played a regular-season game; a 1999 preseason game was played in Sydney between the Mike Shanahan-coached Denver Broncos and the Jim Harbaugh-quarterbacked San Diego Chargers.<\/p>\n

Read more What can today\u2019s Saratoga students take away from 9\/11?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not the circus coming to town,\u201d NFL executive vice president Peter O\u2019Reilly said on a media conference call. \u201cThis is not just us coming for one game. This is part of a long-term commitment to Australia and the region of bringing games and year-round activation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NFL installed an office in 2022 up on the Gold Coast, where it also has a youth academy at A.B. Paterson College in Arundel. Up there in the state of Queensland, as well as here in Victoria, the NFL is providing free flag football kits to every school over the next two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been running a flag program nationwide for the last three years. I\u2019m a big believer that the easiest way to become a fan of the game is to play the game,\u201d Charlotte Offord, the NFL general manager for Australia and New Zealand, told this news organization. \u201cAnd so we extended that program from a pilot in 10 schools in 2022 and we\u2019re now in more than 500 schools playing actively across the country now, which is really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

That influx of flag football is welcomed here, as in America. Tackle football, after all, has its dangers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably gone backward a bit and that\u2019s with all contact sports,\u201d Wykes said. \u201cParents are aware of concussions and long-term injuries. The participation level has dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo kids are playing other stuff like soccer and flag football now. Especially with the Olympics, that participation has flown up definitely.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Aussie eyeballs than ever are on the NFL, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s grown in the last 10 years, from a visual aspect with more people tuning in,\u201d Chapman said.<\/p>\n

As for bringing the NFL to Melbourne, there\u2019s a reason it\u2019s called the sporting capital of Australia, seeing how it hosts big-time events such as AFL Grand Finals, F1 racing, the Australian Open tennis major and cricket showdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NFL wasn\u2019t such a market, but they love top-level sport,\u201d Chapman added.<\/p>\n

And some Aussies still love the concept of playing \u2013 or coaching \u2013 American football.<\/p>\n

Wykes, 44, took up the sport in 1994, when he was a 12-year-old getting \u201cthe crap beat out of me\u201d in the under-18 division. He went on to play professionally in Europe, specifically in Austria and Serbia, although he paused his American-football career to work in Australia\u2019s \u201cdirty stuff\u201d iron-ore mines, then the oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the cheerleaders and how many people you had at games, that is what got me addicted at a young age,\u201d Wykes said.<\/p>\n

His passion for the 49ers is unwavering, especially with regard to 10th-year tight end George Kittle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still think of Kittle as a rookie. It makes me feel old,\u201d Wykes said. \u201cHopefully we can get a damn ring for him before he runs out of gas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Latest line: A good week for John Ternus, a bad week for Patti Poppe<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the NFL promotes flag football in Australia, it’s also benefitting from those who making rosters and winning Super Bowls<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nAustralia’s pipeline to the NFL includes talent, not just eyeballs - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australia’s pipeline to the NFL includes talent, not just eyeballs - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While the NFL promotes flag football in Australia, it's also benefitting from those who making rosters and winning Super Bowls\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-06T15:17:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Australia’s pipeline to the NFL includes talent, not just eyeballs\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-06T15:17:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569\"},\"wordCount\":1109,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/ebb4c026393193f150ac00804a522e20-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569\",\"name\":\"Australia’s pipeline to the NFL includes talent, not just eyeballs - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/ebb4c026393193f150ac00804a522e20-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-06T15:17:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/ebb4c026393193f150ac00804a522e20-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/ebb4c026393193f150ac00804a522e20-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8569#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Australia’s pipeline to the NFL includes talent, not just eyeballs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Australia’s pipeline to the NFL includes talent, not just eyeballs - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Australia’s pipeline to the NFL includes talent, not just eyeballs - Next City Digest","og_description":"While the NFL promotes flag football in Australia, it's also benefitting from those who making rosters and winning Super Bowls","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-09-06T15:17:56+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Australia’s pipeline to the NFL includes talent, not just eyeballs","datePublished":"2026-09-06T15:17:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569"},"wordCount":1109,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ebb4c026393193f150ac00804a522e20-scaled.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569","name":"Australia’s pipeline to the NFL includes talent, not just eyeballs - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ebb4c026393193f150ac00804a522e20-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-09-06T15:17:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ebb4c026393193f150ac00804a522e20-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ebb4c026393193f150ac00804a522e20-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8569#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Australia’s pipeline to the NFL includes talent, not just eyeballs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}