![Mitch Wishnowsky played soccer and Aussie Rules growing up in WA. Picture Getty Images Mitch Wishnowsky played soccer and Aussie Rules growing up in WA. Picture Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/168198572/bdd6e2e7-4fdd-43a3-b71b-4c5f5d1a286d.jpg/r0_213_6000_4000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
In Mitch Wishnowsky's first season in the NFL, the Australian kicked off a Super Bowl.
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Now a win for his San Francisco 49ers over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday morning could see the punter on his way to a second, and make Australian sporting history along the way.
The 49ers will take on the Eagles in the NFC Championship with a place in Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona, on the line.
But what makes this game more special for NFL fans Down Under is the Australian flavour in the game.
Wishnowsky is the 49ers' star punter, holder and sometimes kick-off specialist, while former Rabbitohs junior Jordan Mailata and ex-St Kilda Saints forward Arryn Siposs are also flying the Australian flag in Philadelphia.
"It's pretty cool for Australia that no matter what there's going to be an Aussie in the Super Bowl," Wishnowsky told The Canberra Times.
Wishnowsky has had a spectacular career with the 49ers thus far, and is fresh off signing a four-year extension to keep him in Santa Clara.
However winning a Super Bowl has narrowly eluded him to date.
This NFC Championship will be his third in just four NFL seasons.
When Wishnowsky was just a rookie in the 2019/20 season, the 49ers won that conference title, punching him a ticket to the biggest day on the US sporting calendar - the Super Bowl - and he even kicked off the game.
But that day it was the Kansas City Chiefs who took home the Vince Lombardi Trophy, not the 49ers.
Reflecting on that whirlwind experience a few years on, Wishnowsky now realises how hard it is to get to the big dance, and he's hungry to go one better if they can defeat the Eagles and get one more shot.
"The longer you play, the more it means to you," the 30-year-old said.
"In your rookie year going to the Super Bowl was pretty cool ... a lot of players don't get that chance at all.
"So to get another chance and hopefully win it, would just be amazing."
If Wishnowsky did so, he would become the first Australian to play in, and win, a Super Bowl.
Jesse Williams won a ring as a member of the Seattle Seahawks in the 2013/14 NFL season, however he didn't play a single down that entire year due to injury, and former Arizona Cardinals punter Ben Graham played in, but lost, Super Bowl XLIII.
It's the one NFL record Australians have yet to conquer after nearly 20 consistent years of a handful of players appearing in the league.
For Wishnowsky to achieve it though, the 49ers have to go through the Eagles first, one of the league's best teams, and beat them at home in Philadelphia.
The 49ers are likely to go in as underdogs, especially with a rookie quarterback in Brock Purdy leading them.
It's the Cinderella story of the season as Purdy began his career nicknamed "Mr Irrelevant", the honour given to the very last pick of the NFL draft.
Sitting behind two other quarterbacks on the depth chart when the season began, no-one could have predicted he'd be the man steering their offence just one win from a Super Bowl appearance.
Injuries to 49ers quarterbacks Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo this season threw Purdy into the deep end, giving him his NFL debut, and then the starting role in December where he's since held an undefeated record.
The question on everyone's lips is if Purdy can do the unthinkable and go all the way.
"I think so," Wishnowsky said. "I'm just happy to be part of the Brock Purdy story. I feel like it's a crazy thing going from Mr. Irrelevant to hopefully Super Bowl champions."
It's a story Wishnowsky can probably relate to as well.
From playing soccer and Aussie Rules growing up in Western Australia, he hit a dead-end in footy with injuries, and didn't take to life as a glazier.
Fortuitously his coach hooked him up with Prokick Australia to learn the art of punting in American football with former Geelong Cat, Nathan Chapman. That landed him a college scholarship and led to him being drafted into the NFL, earning millions playing for an iconic team. Add a Super Bowl victory, and it's a Hollywood script.
Wishnowsky admits he does sometimes have to pinch himself that he's come so far in the NFL, but said family with wife Maddie and his young daughter Bowie help give him some perspective.
And added motivation to keep going too.
"This is my life, I'm just living it, but there'll be times before games after the national anthem and flyover, and little moments like that when I think, 'Wow, this is pretty cool'," he said.
"I'm starting to enjoy games more, and be more stress-free and take in and appreciate these moments more.
"Thankfully I wasn't that good at AFL because it got me here."
NFL
NFC Championship, Monday 7am AEDT
San Francisco 49ers v Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
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