Cal Football: Jamieson Sheahan -- From Aussie Rules Football to Cal Punter

Does it sometimes seem that Australians are taking over the punting world in the United States? Well, it's not your imagination. The Aussies dominate punting in this country.

It's all because of the popularity of Australian Rules Football, where the ability to kick on the run and do it accurately is important and translates nicely to punting in American football.

The former Aussie Rules players are coming over in droves. There is even a punting academy in Australian that helps funnel the top punters to American colleges.

Twelve former Aussie Rules players have played in NFL games, and that number is likely to rise.

The Down Under booters are becoming even more popular in U.S. college football. Six of the past seven years, the winner of the Ray Guy Award, given to the top punter among FBS schools, was an Australian -- Tom Hornsey in 2013, Tom Hackett in 2014 and 2015, Mitch Wishnowsky in 2016, Michael Dickson in 2017, and Max Duffy in 2019.

Cal had good luck with Austrian punter Stephen Coutts the past two years, although injuries limited his effectiveness in 2019. And now the Bears are going with another Australian, Jamieson Sheahan.

Check out some Aussie Rules football action here:

Sheahan arrived at Cal recently, enrolling for the spring term as a junior. He has been impressive as a punter in the spring, producing some booming boots with seemingly no effort.

Sheahan is not completely new to American football, having followed the sport while in Australia.

"I'm actually a massive fan of the sport," he said Wednesday, the first day in full pads. "I watched a lot of NCAA college football back home, and I followed the New York Giants before I got here -- that's going to have to change now. Certainly watched a lot of football. I love the sport, and that's one of the main reasons why I wanted to get into it as well."

The pipeline to American came by way of Prokick Australia.

"They're a pathway to getting guys to NCAA Division I colleges," Sheahan said. "I was lucky enough to work with them for 12 months, and they had a relationship with coach [Charlie] Ragle [Cal's special teams coach] already.."

Coutts had come from the same program so the Bears were comfortable inviting Sheahan.

Sheahan is going from one physical sport to another, and he is not quite sure whether American football or Aussie Rules football is the more physical game.

"There are some big hits in our game," he said. "We don't wear pads or helmets, and it's 360 degrees, you can get hit from all angles. It's a very dangerous sport. We have a lot of concussions, and that's something the AFL [Australian Football League] is trying to improve."

As a punter in America, Sheahan should not have worry about big hits. If he does, something is wrong.