Australia’s two-time NFL Pro Bowl punter Mat McBriar believes troubled
AFL star Brendan Fevola has all the tools to make it in American
football.
Dallas Cowboys stalwart McBriar, who played Australian
rules as a schoolboy, is a lifelong Sydney Swans fan and attended their
training session on Thursday.
With Fevola’s future in limbo
following his sacking by Brisbane, gridiron looms as a potential option
for the long-kicking forward.
“It’s difficult, (but) he (Fevola) has got all the tools, he’s a brilliant kick,” McBriar told reporters.
“I
think he’d have a really good chance of making it, just because his leg
swing is so straight through and I think that’s huge for a punter.
“It would be great to see more (Australian) guys come over and I wish him all the best if he has a crack at it.”
Melbourne-raised
McBriar thought some NFL teams might steer clear of Fevola because of
his background, but emphasised other factors could work in his favour.
“Definitely performance is huge,” said McBriar.
“Some
teams won’t even look at him because they’ll look into his background,
other teams it probably won’t matter as much. It just depends.”
One
potential plus for Fevola would be that the low profile position of
punter would not automatically attract a lot of media attention.
“I’m
pretty low down the totem pole, you don’t really go much lower, so I
don’t get the media in my face all the time, as the quarterback does or
the star wide receiver,” McBriar said.
“I don’t know Fev
personally, so it’s sort of hard for me to comment on him, but I just
think physically he’d be able to do it, it’s just if he can get his head
around moving to the other side of the world and picking up a new
sport.
“I know he’s got a family, so that could be different, picking up the family and moving over there could be difficult.”
A
seven-season stalwart of the famous Cowboys organisation, McBriar is
one of several Australians to have carved out a punting career in the
NFL, along with former AFL stars Darren Bennett, Sav Rocca and Ben
Graham.
