The Super Bowl may be as American as apple pie, but quite a few of this year’s stars hail from overseas.
Players taking part in Sunday’s NFL game will include an Australian punter, a New Zealand-born running back and a Venezuelan kicker.
advertise
The Seattle Seahawks have a British coach on their staff, while the New England Patriots have a German tackle and a Dutch tight end on their practice squad.
The sport’s most recognizable international star is two-time Seahawks All-Pro Michael Dickson.
He is one of a growing number of Australians switching their kicking skills from Australian rules football to the gridiron and is the NFL’s highest-paid punter.
On Sunday, Dickerson was able to use his nearly impossible-to-catch spinning “banana kick” to force the Patriots to start deep in their own half and give Seattle an advantage.
He recently told Australia’s ABC News that his time at Sydney’s Swans academy “definitely helped my transition” to the NFL.
advertise
“The opportunities that we have and the knowledge that we have to be a pro — this program helps a lot,” the eighth-season Seahawks veteran said.
Earlier this week, a helicopter hovered over Dixon’s Sydney hometown with a giant flag bearing the number “12,” a nickname for Sea Eagles fans.
Patriotic pride also underpinned British media coverage of Aden Dude, who improbably learned American football at London’s Finsbury Park and eventually became the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator.
Dude and his brother became obsessed with the NFL when their single mother brought home videos of the Chicago Bears’ 1986 Super Bowl championship team.
advertise
He played with the now-defunct NFL Europe before landing a coaching internship with the Dallas Cowboys.
“It’s a bit surreal right now,” Dude told the BBC this week.
He said American football “had a huge impact on my life and I hope that happens to other people back home.”
The Seahawks also have several players of Polynesian descent, including backup running back George Holani, who was born in New Zealand to Tongan parents but moved to the United States as a child.
The opponent was Andy Borregales, who was days away from becoming the first Venezuelan to play in the Super Bowl.
advertise
– for Latin America –
The rookie kicker was born in Caracas, but his family moved to Miami when he was two years old, where he fell in love with the game under the tutelage of his older brother, Jose.
Borregales was selected by the Patriots in the sixth round of last year’s draft and quickly earned the starting job.
“Being here means everything, not only for my country but for all of Latin America,” he told reporters this week.
“Being someone that little kids look up to and admire is a feeling you can never imagine.”
New England also has German player Lorenz Metz and Dutch footballer Thomas Odukoya.
advertise
Both are products of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program, which was established in 2017 to identify outstanding overseas players and grow the game globally.
International expansion was also a key motivation in selecting this year’s Super Bowl performer Bad Bunny, who is expected to provide the first halftime show sung entirely in Spanish.
America/bb
