Philadelphia Eagles punter Arryn Siposs has opened up on his incredible journey from being a St Kilda player to the bright lights of the NFL as the Aussie also revealed his viral moment was down to an error on his part.
Siposs was picked up by the Saints in the 2010 Draft, an “unbelievable” feeling for the Victorian given it was the team he grew up following.
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“I got to play with some legends not just from the club, but for the game,” Siposs told The Onside Kick podcast.
“Nick Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna, Nick Dal Santo, Lenny Hayes to name a few. I was very fortunate to play with guys in their prime trying to win a flag.
“It didn’t quite work out while I was there to achieve the ultimate goal, but I got to play with some absolute stars.”
Siposs enjoyed five seasons with St Kilda but injuries began to derail his long-term AFL plans.
It was during a stint with VFL outfit Williamstown that Siposs began to shit his focus towards a career in the NFL, but it wasn’t the first time the thought had come across his mind.
“I’d thought about it even before I got drafted at 17, 18,” Siposs said.
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“The program had been mentioned to me but my sole focus was on playing AFL. I really didn’t start thinking about it until a couple of years after I had finished in the AFL.
“I played two seasons with Williamstown in the VFL. At the time I joined Williamstown, I was only 22 so I thought I still had plenty of football left in me to get myself back into the AFL. Going into my second season with Williamstown was when I really started to think about it.”
It was a practice session in mid-2017 with ProKick Australia, run by Nathan Chapman, that truly ignited the fire in Siposs’ belly for a career in America.
Siposs wrapped up his second season with Williamstown and that’s when the real work began as he “really trained hard for the next nine or ten months after the football season had finished”.
As the 29-year-old continued to hone his punting craft with ProKick Australia, it was all about biding his time and waiting for a phone call to arrive.
It didn’t take very long for a college football powerhouse to come knocking, as SEC heavyweights Auburn University were first to make an offer.
So, how did Auburn land on Siposs?
“The way Chappy (Chapman) does it is that we don’t have 10 to 12 schools that offer and then you make your decision,” Siposs said.
“We just trust the coaches that are here to give us the best opportunity on what they seem fit for your kind of talent.
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“Chappy came to me and said, ‘Look, we can definitely work something to get you into the SEC or the Big 10,’ which are the two big conferences in conference football.
“Auburn University was the first one to reach out. There was no need to even bother going with anything else.”
Fast forward to today and Siposs is now the punter for the Philadelphia Eagles, a franchise that won a Super Bowl as recently as 2017 and are 3-0 to start the season.
Punters often live their lives on the field in relative anonymity, but Siposs produced a mind-boggling play that had Americans in awe.
A 41-yard field goal effort by Eagles kicker Jake Elliott was blocked and scooped up by a Minnesota Vikings cornerback Kris Boyd who looked clear to run the ball in for a touchdown.
However, Siposs wrapped up Boyd with a stunning tackle that former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee posted on his social media which was, according to the Aussie, “pretty cool” as he “got a couple of extra followers”.
But if it wasn’t for an error from Siposs himself, he might not have ever made the play that has now gone viral.
“I’ll be honest with you, the one that got blocked that I made the tackle on, I spun (the ball) the wrong way and it was lucky it got blocked instead of Jake kicking it and missing it,” Siposs said.
And for those who thought Siposs had been hiding his crazy sprint speed all this time, think again.
“I’m fooling everybody, trust me,” Siposs said.
“Instincts kind of kicked in and I was able to chase him down. But I’m fooling everybody, I don’t think I’d be able to do that again.”
