The Redskins Blog

Keeping Up With The Aussies

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When the Redskins and Cowboys took the field on Sunday, it was a reuniting of two Melbourne, Australia natives in punters Sav Rocca and Mat McBriar.

While Rocca went through the Aussie Rules Football League as a first career, McBriar went through the more traditional NCAA-to-NFL path.  He was a college standout at Hawaii, where he was the first Australian to make the Hula Bowl.  In 2006, he became just the second Australian to ever make the Pro Bowl.

But on Sunday, he was out-belted by the Redskins ‘Rocca of Stability.’  Here are their stat lines on the day:

Sav Rocca: 5 punts, 48.6 yards, long 63, 2 inside 20, zero touchbacks, 22 return yards.

Mat McBriar: 7 punts, 40.9 average, long 60, 2 inside 20, 1 touchback, 97 return yards.

An interesting note from each stat line, is that both players were credited with a special teams tackle.  McBriar’s came on the Brandon Banks 55 yard return early in the third quarter.  The most that McBriar could do on this play was to defend the Banks stiff arm and push the speedster out of bounds. Read more »