Matt Hayball v Lou Hedley: Inside the $3 million all-Aussie battle for New Orleans’ NFL punting job
The New Orleans Saints are hosting a brutal, high-stakes, mate vs mate battle for their NFL punting position. PETER MITCHELL speaks to contender Matt Hayball about taking on incumbent and fellow Australian Lou Hedley.
As you walk through the New Orleans Saints’ locker room or practice facility these days, there is a good chance you will hear someone say, “G’day mate.” The voice might have a genuine Australian accent, or it could be an American attempting a rough, not so convincing, Aussie greeting.
“We get a lot of ‘G’day mates’ as we walk past people in the building,” Matthew Hayball laughs as he speaks to CODE Sports during a break in the team’s off-season workouts.
“They like to poke fun at our accents.”
The uptick in “G’day mate” greetings in New Orleans is the result of the Saints featuring two Australian punters on their roster this year. There is Hayball, a 27-year-old from West Adelaide whose childhood dream was to play in the AFL, as he appeared set to do when drafted by Geelong in 2015.
The Saints also have Lou Hedley, the 30-year-old, heavily-tattooed former scaffolder from Mandurah, Western Australia. Hedley played Aussie rules for the Peel Thunder reserves, owned a tattoo parlour in Bali, scored a scholarship at the University of Miami, counts Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as one of his fans and last year became a cult hero punting for the Saints.
Some might think this is a warm, fuzzy article about two Aussies reaching the pinnacle of America’s favourite sport. Adding to the potential charm of the story is Hayball and Hedley having been mates for years, supporting each other while starring for their US college teams on the way to the NFL.
Sadly, for Hayball or Hedley, their stint with the Saints this year will have a fatal twist. The Saints must cut their pre-season rosters from 91 players to 53 before August 29, ahead of the start of the regular season on September 5. The Saints only need one punter, so Hayball or Hedley will receive a tap on the shoulder, and be asked to pack up and leave.
It’s a brutal, high-stakes, mate vs mate battle, with the Saints’ coaching staff analysing everything that Hayball and Hedley do in the coming months. The winner will be rewarded with a chance to fulfil the three-year, almost $US3 million contract they signed, while the loser will be unemployed and hoping one of the other 31 NFL teams need a punter for the 2024 season. Both contracts have just a fraction of the money guaranteed, so the Saints would not have to honour most of the money to the player they cut.
With so much on the line, it might be expected that Hayball and Hedley have a testy relationship.
It’s the opposite.
“You hear a lot of stories about when guys are in competition, they try to play games with each other and don’t want to be buddies. We’re good friends and both want the best for each other,” Hayball says.
Hedley knows the high-pressure situation well. He was a rookie last year when he won the Saints’ punting job in a similar pre-season duel with American and then incumbent, Blake Gillikin. This year, Hedley is in the hot seat after averaging just 43 yards per punt, ranking him last among NFL punters in 2023.
Hayball averaged 47.6 yards for Vanderbilt University last year, the second-best single-season average in the Tennessee school’s history. Hayball is also a left-footed punter, which creates a reverse spin compared to the more common right-footed punters. It’s an option special teams coordinators like to utilise and something opposition returners can struggle to deal with. Hedley punts with his right foot, but just like Hayball, has a large arsenal of different kicks from his days booting a Sherrin that can bamboozle returners.
Hayball was not selected in April’s NFL Draft, but minutes after the last pick was taken, he signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent.
“I had a bit of a chat with the Minnesota Vikings and the Buffalo Bills and a couple of other teams, but New Orleans is more open to the innovative styles of punting and I felt like it was the best opportunity for me. It’s also a lot warmer in New Orleans than Minnesota and Buffalo!” he says.
The negative aspect to New Orleans, of course, was having to beat his good mate Hedley for the job; though both understood that if it wasn’t Hayball competing with Hedley, it would simply have been the same cutthroat situation with another punter.
Hayball and Hedley became friends in Melbourne around 2018, when both were at the beginning of their American football careers. They were enrolled at Prokick Australia, the prolific program headed by Nathan Chapman and John Smith that transforms Aussie rules players into gridiron punters and then matches them with US colleges.
Hayball, a versatile midfielder, never played an AFL game for Geelong. Instead, he played 50 games over three seasons for Geelong’s VFL team before he was delisted.
“The AFL was always the dream, and I was very grateful to have been given an opportunity, but obviously it didn’t play out how I had hoped,” he says.
Hayball was a huge fan of American football and had watched the AFL’s Ben Graham, Sav Rocca, Cameron Johnston, Arryn Siposs and Ben Griffiths transition into elite punters, so gave Prokick a call and joined Hedley and other Aussie rules converts.
Hedley headed to San Francisco’s City College, before transferring to Miami. Hayball landed with coach Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic University (FAU).
“So, I saw a fair bit of Lou because FAU was just an hour down the road from Miami,” Hayball says.
In 2022, Hayball transferred to Vanderbilt and last year, as well as being named an All-American for football, he earned a Masters in Leadership and Organisational Performance to go with the Finance degree he achieved at FAU.
More Coverage
Hedley isn’t lacking educational credentials either. He has a Bachelor degree in Sports Administration and a Masters in Liberal Studies from Miami.
If all goes to plan, Hayball and Hedley will both have long NFL punting careers, but if not, their degrees will set them up for a life in the corporate world.
“It’s definitely a big step from college to the NFL, but love being in New Orleans with the Saints,” Hayball says. “I’m excited about the future.”
Injury crisis forces NFL franchise to turn to 44-year old grandfather
Halftime rappers, nightclubs: How Aussie footy lags behind US
Mahomes rescue act saves Chiefs as Colts stumble
Sydney? Brisbane? NFL’s Aussie expansion could get even bigger
NFL star clinging to life after being shot
