World Footy News

David King (who shares the name with former North Melbourne player - but is not THAT David King) is the latest Aussie rules footballer to be signed to a punting contract for an American Football (NFL) club. Coming close on the heels of the signing by the Green Bay Packers of Chris Bryan, the New England Patriots have signed their own Aussie. Jy Bond is the other Aussie in contention for a spot and has signed with the New York Giants.

King is likely to have to go through a full preseason and compete against either a drafted punter or another punter brought in by the Patriots. The former Aussie rules player was one of a number of Aussie who attended punting camps in the US in 2009.

The WEEI.com Patriots Blog tells how the scouting for King came about:
Aguiar, who played punted and kicked in the NFL from 1991-2000 and now runs the Aguiar Kicking Academy, got a call prior to his organization’s Pro Camp in Las Vegas from Patriots special teams coach Scott O’Brien.

O’Brien wouldn’t be able to attend the April 1 workout the 105 punter, kickers, and long-snappers were putting on for 17 coaches and scouts from both the NFL and CFL, but having previously seen King wanted to request that Aguiar paid a little extra attention to the Australian.

“[O’Brien] wanted my honest opinion if he could play in the NFL or not,” Aguiar said from near his Illinois home. “I knew he was a strong-legged kid. So for the five days I watched him very closely, looked at his technique, where he was hitting the ball, going right and left. He did a really good job.

“I was really surprised at how far along he was considering he had never done this for a living, and how good his technique was. I think it a big reason was because as a youngster he didn’t have any bad habits.”

By the time the camp was done, Aguiar had no doubt about King’s ability.

“Coming out (of the six-day camp) I had him reanked as the No. 1 punter,” Aguiar said. “He’s a very quick-legged kid. And you can’t miss that Australian accent.

“I really like the way he comes through the ball. He’s a big, tall kid (6-foot-2), and he has a real live, quick leg. I was impressed.”

Aguiar also said King had been working on his kickoffs, showing some signs that it could be an added part of his game.