Philadelphia Eagles: Get to know new punter Arryn Siposs
Cameron Johnston is officially gone.
After holding down the punting duties for three-straight seasons about as well as anyone could have asked for (more on that here), Johnston and his two wonderful dogs Buddy and Bella are off to the bright lights and exceedingly dry climate of Houston, to play for the Texans on a three-year deal worth $8 million.
Good for the player, bad for dog Instagram content – though Jake Elliott is still on the team and his puppies Willy and Roxy are must a follow – and meh for the Philadelphia Eagles.
But unlike seemingly every other position in the NFL – save kickers and long-snappers – teams seldom keep more than one punter on their active roster, which means there are always serviceable options available on both practice squads and the open market who can come in and deliver a solid enough effort for pennies on the dollar, or in this case $2,525,000 over three years.
Eagles fans, meet your new punter, Arryn Siposs.
Arryn Siposs has big shoes to fill with the Philadelphia Eagles.
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It’s pretty incredible that Arryn Siposs is an NFL player.
A native of Melbourne, Australia, Siposs began his professional football career in 2010, when he was drafted 75th overall in the 2010 AFL Draft to serve as a kicker for the Dandenong Stingrays. Initially making his debut for St. Kilda in Round 7 of the AFL season, Siposs appeared in 28 games over five seasons with the Saints and scored 22 goals with the club.
Fun fact: I have no idea how Australian rules football works, so hopefully that makes a little more sense to you than it does to me.
From there, Siposs transitioned from Australian rules football to the American variety that we all love so much by working out at ProKick Australia and was offered a scholarship to play for Gus Malzahn at Charles Barkley’s alma mater, Auburn University.
Over his two-year tenure as a contributor for the Tigers War Eagles, Siposs appeared in 26 games, recorded 117 punts for 5,150 yards for a 44.0 ypp average, and even attempted a fruitless pass on a trick punt in 2019.
That, in the mind of the pride of Melbourne, was enough to prove his worth at the NCAA level and, despite having one year of eligibility left, Siposs declared for the NFL Draft heading into 2020.
In hindsight, probably not the best idea.
With only two punters hearing their names called on draft weekend, Braden Mann to the New York Jets, and Sterling Hofrichter to the Atlanta Falcons, Siposs settled in with the Detroit Lions as a UDFA, where he attempted to unseat expected starter Jack Fox, who spent part of the previous season on the practice squad.
That, too, didn’t work out quite as Siposs expected, as Fox won the job and was named to the Pro Bowl after averaging 49.1 yards per punt on 59 attempts, good for the third-best mark in the league.
From there, Siposs bounced on and off the Lions’ practice squad before eventually signing a futures contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, as the writing was on the wall that Cameron Johnston was unlikely to return for his fourth season with the team.
And yeah, that’s that. Arryn Siposs is 6-foot-2, 212 pounds, kicks with his right foot, was an education major, and is a noted golf fan according to Auburn’s player bio page. Will he become the second coming of Donnie Longball? Only time will tell, but it’s certainly nice to know that the Philadelphia Eagles picked their guy and are heading into camp with yet another big-legged bomber from the opposite side of the equator.