Aussie NFL punter Arryn Siposs caught in wild seven-year anomaly
Australian NFL punter Arryn Siposs essentially played the role of a well-paid spectator during an incredibly-rare ‘no-punt game’ between his Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs in the early hours of Monday morning.
Aussies who set a 4am (AEDT) alarm to watch Siposs in action would have been left disappointed as neither he, or his Chiefs counterpart Tommy Townsend, were called on to punt during the high-octane offensive shootout that finished 42-30 in favour of the Chiefs.
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The two teams combined for 932 yards of total offence, 61 first downs and 15 third down conversions.
“It was a good day for the punters. They had a vacation on both teams,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said post game.
In fact, the only time Siposs and Townsend saw the field was to hold on field goal and extra point attempts for their respective place kickers Jake Elliott and Harrison Butker.
The clash was just the fifth no-punt game in NFL history, with the most recent one taking place between the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints in 2014.
It was the second time the Chiefs have been involved in such a fixture, losing to the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional round of the 2003-04 playoffs in a game that also featured zero punts.
For his troubles (or lack thereof), Siposs will still take home a game cheque in the vicinity of $53,500 AUD - or one seventeenth of his $910,000 AUD base salary.
It’s a tidy sum for the former Australian rules footballer, who was delisted by AFL club St Kilda in 2015, before making the transition to kicking the pigskin.
Eagles and Chiefs just played a gm and neither tm punted. Is this really football?
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) October 3, 2021
There have only been five "no punt" games in NFL history, the Chiefs have been involved in two of them; today's win over the Eagles and...well..no sense bringing the other one back up.
— frank boal (@realfrankboal) October 3, 2021
Siposs spent time at the Melbourne-based Prokick Australia kicking and punting academy before receiving a college scholarship to punt for Auburn University in 2018.
The 28-year-old was on the Detroit Lions practice roster during 2020 NFL season, before signing with the Eagles this offseason as a replacement for fellow Aussie Cameron Johnston (now with the Houston Texans).
Siposs has punted 14 times so far during the 2021 season, averaging 46.5 yards per punt, which ranks him 15th in the NFL.
He is one of two Australians on the Eagles’ roster, with compatriot Jordan Mailata missing the clash with Kansas City due to an MCL sprain.
The loss to the Chiefs was the Eagles’ third consecutive defeat and they now sit in equal-bottom in the NFC East.
The Chiefs meanwhile improved to 2-2, although question marks remain over their defence, which is leaking in excess of 30 points per game to their opponents.
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