NFL’s night of nights – the draft – begins on Friday morning, and one Aussie with a highly unorthodox technique is set to realise his dream after a stunning college career.
Adam Korsak has built up quite the cult following, starring for Rutgers in college football: so much so he has been nicknamed the ‘Aussie Assassin’ by his legion of loving fans.
One of, if not the, top punting prospects in the draft, Korsak excelled at his craft so much he broke the NCAA (which encompasses the US college system) record for most (net) punting yards in a season.
He was also named as the Ray Guy Award winner – which acknowledges the best punter in the nation – in his final season last year.
And he’s just a small Aussie fella from Melbourne who appears set to appear on one of the grandest stages in world sport.
Adam Korsak, pictured with his Ray Guy Award for being the top college punter in America, is hoping to be picked up in the NFL Draft, which begins this Friday
Born and raised in Melbourne, Korsak earned a scholarship to Rutgers University after finishing school, where he has already done an undergraduate and masters degree in addition to breaking all-time NCAA punting records
Korsak’s unusual technique of using an AFL on-the-run kicking style has made many shrewd judges sit up and take notice. And getting noticed in the sea of college talent in nothing to sneeze at.
‘That guy is a tremendous, tremendous player,’ an opposition coach said in 2019 after one of Korsak’s games for Rutgers.
An opposition player tasked with catching Korsak’s punts in said game was left gobsmacked at the Aussie’s skill.
‘He (Korsak) was ridiculous. He was punting the ball all over the place. I was trying to get the ball. One of them, I remember, barely stayed in bounds and rolled all the way to the 1 yard line. So he really made me work,’ said Iowa star Nico Ragaini.
Korsak was born and raised in Melbourne, and like many Aussie boys, grew up playing cricket and Aussie Rules.
He was certainly no slouch, either, and played with prodigy Will Pucovski when representing Victoria at junior level – opening the batting alongside the future Test cricketer.
After he finished school at Maribyrnong College in 2015, Korsak went along to a Prokick Australia camp, run by ex-AFL and NFL star Nathan Chapman.
He impressed straight away, and nabbed himself a scholarship to Rutgers…and the rest is history.
The lightly-built punter has an unorthodox kicking style, but he will unashamedly back his abilities in to transfer it to NFL level
Unlike Americans who grew up watching and playing the game their whole lives, Korsak then taught himself the rules by playing the video game Madden, watching the Cleveland Browns and the iconic football movie Any Given Sunday.
And no matter the huge success he has had in college football, and calls from some to alter his unconventional kicking style, Korsak retains the typical Aussie demeanour of putting the team above ego.
He just wants to win.
‘How many of these balls are returnable? That’s essentially how I think about punting and not necessarily how it’s traditionally thought about,’ Korsak told the New York Post recently.
‘I didn’t really care about kicking a certain way to appease an uneducated eye in the stands. I punted to put my team in the best position possible.’
Critics will attack his smaller than average size and lack of leg strength, but, like all good Aussie Rules players, Korsak knows it is about timing and technqiue. The size of the fight not the size of the dog, etc.
‘To pass the ball [in Australia] you have to punt it, and you have to be pretty accurate kicking it to your guys and not their guys,’ he said.
‘How that translates into American football is … you can kick a lower driving ball to the corners and make that returner turn sideways and run.
‘I think I can see it creeping into the NFL in the next couple years just based on the efficiency of it and net yardage.’
Korsak impressed a number of scouts at the 2023 Combine, ahead of Friday’s draft
He’s not just a punting prodigy, either. Korsak already has an undergraduate degree in Employment Law, and a Masters in Business Communication Strategy. He’s working on a second too.
To put it bluntly, the NFL Draft is 50 times more prestigious, exciting and glamorous than the AFL’s version.
Set to begin at 10am AEST on Friday, the draft will run across three days in Kansas City, Missouri, with the eyes of the football and NFL fantasy worlds glued to the television.
Hundreds upon hundred of players will be twiddling their thumbs waiting to see if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will call their name out during the seven round marathon.
And special teams players like Korsak typically have to wait until the sixth or seventh rounds to be picked up – so it will be a nervous few days.
As we wait to see whether he will be picked up by an NFL team, here are a few Aussie players who know exactly what it’s like in America’s biggest sport.
Jordan Mailata
Jordan Mailata salutes the crowd after being picked up by the Eagles in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft
The knockabout lad from the Sydney suburb of Bankstown is, without a doubt, the biggest Aussie success story in the NFL – by a long way.
From a Rabbitohs reject to one of the best left tackles in the league, the Philadelphia Eagles astutely took a shot on the 203cm, 166kg giant in the seventh round of the 2018 draft.
Now he is dominating in Super Bowls, earning Pro Bowl nods and signing contracts worth a whopping $88million. You don’t need to be selected in the first round to become a superstar. Mailata is now a household name all across American and even starring on reality TV.
Daniel Faalele
Daniel Faalele was picked up by the Ravens in last year’s draft and has made an immediate impression
When Daniel Faalele was picked up by the Ravens in the fourth round of last year’s draft, he became the heaviest player in the entire league at an astonishing 203cm and 172kg.
The Melbourne native has agility belying his incredible size, and this was not lost on scouts after playing basketball and rugby union as a youngster.
After an impressive career across the University of Hawaii and University of Minnesota, Baltimore took a chance on the project player, and he made an immediate impression on the offensive line. Big things are ahead for the Aussie.
Jesse Williams
The only Aussie to have a Super Bowl ring, defensive giant Jesse Williams was picked up by Seattle in the fifth round of the 2013 draft after impressing scouts at the combine.
He was made to wait three days before being picked up despite being crucial to Alabama winning two national championships, but his size and strength eventually convinced Seattle to give him a shot.
Cancer ruined his promising NFL career, but he will always have that Super Bowl ring to hold onto.
Michael Dickson
Seahawks punter Michael Dickson went very high for a punter in the 2018 draft, with Seattle parting with a fifth round pick to secure him
Michael Dickson caught the eye of fans and scouts during a brilliant career for the Longhorns, winning the Ray Guy award as well as nabbing the MVP award in the 2017 Texas Bowl – unheard of for a punter.
As such he was highly regarded heading into the 2018 draft, and Seattle surprised some with ensuring they could land the top punting prospect by picking him up in the fifth round – very early for a special teams player.
He’s gone on to be one of the top punters in the league and provided a myriad of astonishing highlights that has made punting sexy again for fans.
Colin Scotts
The man who started it all for Aussies: Colin Scotts. The rugby union star was the first Aussie to receive a college football scholarship, and the powerfully-built defensive tackle was then picked up by the Cardinals in the third round of the 1987 draft.
Arryn Siposs
Of course not everyone gets the dream they worked so hard for come draft day.
Ex-St Kilda star Arryn Sipposs was impressive at Auburn University, but after nominating for the 2020 draft, the Saints forward went undrafted.
Fortunately for him, the heartbreak was short-lived, with the Lions signing him as an undrafted free agent, before he went on to secure a move to the Eagles and play in last season’s Super Bowl.
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