From Aussie Rules booter to Seahawks mainstay, Michael Dickson re-signs on 4-year deal

Yahoo

3 days ago

More than a decade ago, Michael Dickson had never seen an entire football game.
Not an American one.
Dickson was a teenager in Australia. He was an Aussie Rules Football player, and a good one. He could direct the oblong balls he kicked like it was attached to a joystick.
An acquaintance suggested he send films of his kicking electronically to the United States — specifically, to the University of Texas football coaches.
That led to a college scholarship to play football, American style.
'I was part of a kicking program and they had contacts in American college football. I just was just punting at a local field, no helmet or pads,' Dickson said last week. 'And they just took his (the scout's) word that that I had what it took to play at Texas.
'They invited me for my official visit and that's when they offered me.'
A decade later, Dickson is 29. He's recently married, to his college sweetheart at Texas, Gianni Outram. He's been an All-Pro and Pro Bowl punter for Seattle. And he just signed his third NFL contract, one that will nearly double his career earnings.
Dickson signed a four-year contract extension with the Seahawks Tuesday just before the team's mandatory offseason minicamp began. It's believed to be worth $16.2 million.
He's earned $17 million in his first seven seasons, all with Seattle. The team traded up in the fifth round of the 2018 draft to get him.
And the Seahawks still have him, signed now through 2028.
Yeah, this American football thing worked out.
'I think that it was always the dream. My purpose in college was to play the best I could to play in the NFL. But, yeah, eight years? I don't know if I would have thought I'd be playing at a high level for that long,' Dickson said.
'But, each time I achieve a goal, the goal just gets higher. It'll be fun to look back one day.'