Jock 2 Jock Podcast with Tory Taylor - "The Aussie Invasion"

Thanks for joining us for the jock to jock podcast sponsored by I'm on communications experience the I'm on difference.

I'm Brian Marshall from the Rockaway morning show.

I'll get the punters perspective on Iowa football from Tory Taylor right after this.

Thanks for joining us for this week's show.

In the last episode, I presented Tory with a survey that Americans think that the Australian accent is the sexiest on the planet.

And Tori provided his

thoughts.

But that's just weird.

You wouldn't do that where I'm from.

So people just had this weird obsession with, I guess, accent here, really.

But at the same time, I kind of get that I'm the only Australian in the middle of the state of Iowa.

The gentleman who was named Co Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks.

I'm joined by number nine from your Iowa football team, Tori Taylor.

Welcome back.

Thanks, Brian.

Looking forward to it.

Appreciate the introduction.

Did you get your special certificate already?

I did about 30 minutes ago.

Do you just have a box ready for the study like we talked about in the last episode?

There's a few things I don't really like to... I don't really show them or anything like that.

I just put them in a little drawer because I don't know.

That's not stuff that really matters too much.

But sometimes I'll look at it every now and then, just kind of remind myself.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

The game against Wisconsin.

So you get to Camp Randall.

You see that the student section isn't there until damn near halftime.

Yeah.

You get out there and you just put on a clinic.

10 punts, which equals a career best.

506 yards total, 50.6 average, along a 62.

Six inside the 20.

Zero solo tackles because Coach Ferrant said no more tackling.

Yeah.

How did you feel about the game against the Badgers?

Yeah, overall, I was just really happy to win.

It was kind of one of those games where it was a bit strange.

You know, we got there and it's really quiet.

And yeah, it's kind of bizarre, but it was it was really windy in a certain section.

It was kind of hard to gauge the wind and the weather in general.

And then, you know, kind of just walk around with Coach Woods and he's kind of just says, oh, this here is doing this here is doing that.

And I was like, yeah, whatever.

And then.

Yeah, I was hitting some good balls in the warm-up and I really feel like the last couple of weeks I've made a lot of strides.

Whether I hit good or bad balls in the warm-up, I'm still, you know, just making sure that it's just the warm-up, you know, and it's funny, you know, everybody, you play all these other teams and I think I may have mentioned it before, they think it's like a pissing contest half the time.

It's like, that it's really just like the driving range, you know, everyone's good on the driving range, but then how good are you when it actually matters out on the course?

And that's what I kind of think of as well.

Well, the warm-up's just a warm-up.

Like, I'm literally just getting my body warm to go and perform to the best of my ability.

So it's such a fun experience.

We got absolutely smashed there in 2021.

It was quite embarrassing in the end, but yeah, to turn it around this time was just a great day.

You know, had a lot of fun with the guys and it was a fun locker room after for sure.

You had mentioned kind of using a golf analogy earlier, like using it as the driving range.

Was Coach Woods acting as a caddy, kind of walking you around to certain spots and kind of giving you a heads up on what you should be looking for?

Yeah, for sure.

He kind of just tells me, because I've got certain shots that I like to hit at certain parts of the field.

And he kind of says, well, I think this is going to work in this part of the field, like this part of the hash.

For example, it was kind of, it was a little bit interwind in the far right corner.

But then it was kind of pushing the ball across towards the left.

So he's like, well, when we get to this part of the field, it's like, I reckon we really like the ball going left.

So and I like hitting ball.

Well, I shouldn't say it too loud, but I prefer hitting balls left because I can kind of get my hips through the ball a bit more.

But sometimes you've also got to change it up and hit balls right.

But it really depends on the weather and things like that.

And coach would just be a big help with that.

Since I've been here too, because he knows the stadiums really well, especially Kinnick, because Kinnick's still the hardest stadium to play in, I feel like.

So you think if teams are scouting you right now, they're listening to the jock to jock podcast and may have heard you give a tell a little bit on this show?

Yeah,

possibly.

The Fox Sports people could not stop talking about you during the game.

Obviously, you're out there 10 times, but there was such a fervor about it that you even posted

There's like a minute and 42 second long video of your punts and how they're getting, they're putting you over.

Even at the end of the game, when they're talking to Coach Ferrance, they're talking about you just for a little bit, but they're talking about you at the end of the game.

So truly, in this case, punting was winning.

The big thing is I'm trying to just, well, first and foremost, you know, go out there and perform for my teammates and my team and coaches and things like that, but...

I'm also just going out there to bring a bit of entertainment to people's days as well, as silly as that might sound.

Everyone is so passionate about Hawkeye football, so if I can bring them a little bit of satisfaction for three hours on a Saturday, it's weird.

I just love punning.

I love being out there.

It's never really a good thing when I'm out there from a team perspective, but I really just love being out there, and I'm really just trying to bring...

I guess like more respect to specialists in general because people probably don't realize I feel like in the past it's kind of changed the last couple of years but in the past specialists have probably been viewed as you know all we do is kick the ball and things like that which is true but as you've kind of seen especially our special teams is a big deal and yeah I feel like myself, Drew and Luke we all work really well together to try and perform on Saturdays and benefit the team the best way we can.

You mentioned entertaining Hawkeye fans.

You were entertaining some of the Badger fans as well.

I had some friends that were in attendance at the game.

Even you may have your new hashtag if you want to use it.

Do you know the Transformers?

Do you remember those from the 80s or did you hear about those when you were growing up?

No.

So the Transformers would be robots in disguise that would change from robot mode to

Something else.

I

know a transform.

Yeah, okay, the newer newer version Yeah,

one of the individuals that was in attendance at the game saw your your big boot and then called well geez isn't that legatron I

Have I have heard that before but yeah, not not quite.

I was a little worried about The departing messages I was given Wisconsin fans when I knew the game was over I thought that's made where you think up where you were going.

What were you saying to Badger fans?

Oh, you know just

con words only

another thing I remember last year when we talked about Getting near trophies and at the Heartland trophy.

That is a big piece of equipment You know a big trophy I noticed you were nowhere near that to go help and lift it and show it to the Hawkeye fans afterward

Yeah, I was kind of more so just like I was talking to like coach woods a lot.

We were kind of just talking about I guess like how happy we're like giving each other a hug and then I just kind of like to walk around and

I shake the coach's hands and things like that and just say, you know, thanks to the opportunity blah blah like great win.

I love to like celebrate, but I'm I try and like stay away from the trophies and things like that.

That isn't really that important to me.

What is the post game locker room like?

What's the mood after a win like that?

Oh, especially a win like that.

It was, um, yeah, it was pretty crazy because.

Like I said in the post game press conference, not many people probably gave us much of a chance going into that game.

So yeah, it was certainly, it was kind of one of those things where it's just like, you know, F you all, that was kind of the vibe.

But yeah, it was, it was a fun, I guess, 10, 15 minutes post game.

Were you aware that there's an Aussie invasion right now in the football bowl subdivision?

New York Times did an article on Australian punters are putting a new spin on football in the beginning of September.

Did you know about this story?

Yeah, I think Coach Wood sent it to me actually a few weeks ago.

In the story, they mentioned that 61 of the 133 football subdivision teams now have Aussie punters on their rosters.

Yeah, it's pretty impressive.

Eight of the 14 Big Ten teams have Aussie punters, yourself included, obviously.

Both punters in the national championship last year were also of Australian descent.

Interesting to note that in this particular story that Pro Kick Australia was featured very heavily in this, especially the Melbourne location.

Yeah, I have read that article.

It's a great article.

And I think, you know, it's one of those things that people really only say, like, I guess, for example, like, I'll use all our fans, you know, people aren't really only say

like me going out there and kicking the ball and it's the same with other places but there's a lot of guys that have sacrificed a lot to kind of get to where they are you know like you you don't see much of your family you know like I've seen my family probably like one month of the year and then so there's a lot of sacrifices that go into it and people really only see like kind of that three hours on a Saturday but there's so much more that goes into it and I think one thing that I really appreciate

about being shown over here is that you're kind of part of like a small little family as well.

You know, there's a bunch of other guys doing what you're doing and you kind of build relationships with those guys because you kind of understand well, you know, this isn't easy.

But at the same time, I'm also a big believer in that you kind of got to get out of comfort zone and challenge yourself really, really just in general.

Not saying that's moving across halfway across the world or anything like that.

Yeah, I kind of love reading those articles because it kind of makes you realize, well, you know, you've come a long way, this guy's given up a lot, and, you know, like, Lou Headley, one of my good friends, he's the punter at the Saints, you know.

He left a lot behind, like, he's got a kid and things like that.

He basically sold his tattoo shop to... You're really chasing something of the unknown, you know what I mean?

There's no guarantees of anything.

And especially I'd never been to America.

So it's like, well, I don't really know what to expect.

And it's kind of one of those big leaps of faith.

And to say that it's been worthwhile would be probably an understatement because I've absolutely loved it.

But at the same time, like you certainly give up a lot.

And there's guys that sacrifice a lot to come over here.

And that's why it's always offends me a lot when people say, oh, you know, like you guys are 24, 25, like.

you're taking a spot off an 18 year old kid.

And it's kind of like we're actually giving up a lot to do this.

So shut up your ass, you know what I

mean?

I read in the article and I think you had kind of alluded to this before.

There's a substantial financial investment just to get involved with Pro Kick Australia.

And like you said, no guarantees of even coming over to participate in college football, correct?

Yeah.

So when you join the program, you pay a certain amount upfront.

It's about fifteen thousand dollars which is equivalent to about ten thousand american let's say and you basically train for a year and then you kind of you hear a little bit from schools and things like that but nothing is really official until you sign the dotted line and well I wouldn't say anything's official until you kind of get here and there are stories of guys getting over here and after a couple of days they're like well this isn't me like this is too hard and.

that was like one thing that i was always kind of thinking about like man what if i don't enjoy it but i was like you know what i gotta give myself three months it's like if i i'm just gonna get through the first three months and then i'll reassess from there and um it's interesting you know i got here uh would have been late august and then i was like well there's no games i'm like i don't even want to go if i'm not playing like what else am i gonna do but then i was like well you know it beats

Doing nothing because of COVID in Australia.

Everyone was basically in lockdown.

So I was like, well Whatever, I'll go give it a go and and see what happens But yeah, it was I was like, I'll give myself three months and then I kind of got here and set it in after a couple of weeks and Yeah, the rest is history really.

But yeah, like I said before there's There's a lot of guys coming over here and they sacrifice a lot and you sacrifice a lot of time away from family and things like that really to chase something that You don't really know is

is there.

Nothing is guaranteed.

Do you have like a group chat on your phone at all with other Aussies that are on teams?

Yeah, a bunch of other guys, yeah.

It's quite funny.

You'd be surprised at how much fun we make of American people.

After talking to you for a while, I'm sure that you've told them about this stupid podcast that you're on.

No, not at all.

Not at all.

One of the things I really appreciate, do you know Michael Dixon?

Yeah, so

Well, I chat to him maybe like every now and then like I know him quite well and I was actually texting him last week just saying like great start to the season and things like that.

And last year when I kind of like wasn't too sure what I wanted to do, I spoke to him on the phone for a while because he left as a junior as well.

So I kind of just wanted to get his advice and he was really helpful with that.

But to answer your question, yeah, I do.

So he's a Sydney-born punter.

He's with the Seattle Seahawks, and he had a great quote in this New York Times article.

He says, Americans tend to grow up throwing footballs and baseballs, while many Australians grow up kicking an oval-shaped ball back and forth hundreds of times a day.

And that lends itself to what you do out on the field.

Pretty much, yeah.

One of the other things that I enjoyed about the article was three different types of kicks were highlighted.

Boomed torpedoes, banana kicks.

and drop punts.

A boomed torpedo, is that more of the spiral?

Yeah, that's just a spiral and a banana is something that bends from left to right and then a drop punt is just an end over end punt.

So when that first punt hits and it just stops dead, would that be considered a drop punt?

Yeah, that was a drop punt because it was end over end.

Gotcha.

Is there any other style of punting that goes into what you do?

I'm not

really.

I'm also just open field spirals and drop puns.

There's a lot of guys that have all these different tricks and waste a lot of time practicing on things that you're not really going to work on in a game.

Well, yeah, it's good to have it in the back of the bag, but I just like to keep things simple.

With Aussie punters right now in the NFL, active or otherwise, I noticed that if you go back to 2016, roughly when we start seeing more Aussie guys,

getting on NFL rosters, Denver, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco, and Detroit.

Other players have made practice squads and such like that, but these are individuals either active now or a part of an active roster at one point here in the last couple of years.

Those individuals are these locations.

Denver seems like it would be a punter's paradise, wouldn't it?

Yeah, it would, especially probably for the first two or three months of the year.

You know, when balls are fine, it's interesting.

So Dico, well, Michael Dixon, his first ever game was at Denver.

So it's kind of interesting listening to him talk about how he basically lucked out because the ball goes a lot further and higher in Denver.

Anything else that you want to say about Pro Kick or about the individuals that helped you to get where you are today?

Just like really grateful for them, you know, like they, it's always, I will say one thing is, you know,

The time zones, right?

So it might be it's funny I bet if I went on to like my messenger like messenger or Instagram or whatever it is and I it'd be 3 20 a.m.. There and I could almost guarantee that if I called my coach right now He'd pick up because he's probably talking to some coach down in I can Louisiana or whatever, you know,

right?

So those guys are barely never ever sleeping because they're always like it's daytime here

It's really the only time they can chat.

So yeah, there's different different times when it's late afternoon here.

It's early morning there.

So you can make it work.

But, you know, sometimes a coach here might have like, oh, you know what?

I've got 20 minutes at 12 p.m.

And it's 4 a.m.

Back home.

But there they're still up making those calls to try and get kids where they deserve to be.

Do they talk about living in America at all?

Is that anything that's built into the program?

Oh, yeah, there's.

Yeah, they don't want people being under any illusions that it's going to be so easy and things like that.

Yeah, they really get guys ready.

And yeah, I think the biggest thing is I've copped some of the biggest mother effens you can think of while back home because that kind of just gets you ready to play and kind of puts you in that environment.

But in terms of living, you never really know until you get here.

It's just really one of those things like you can think about it and imagine it and know what's it going to be like here or what's going to be like there.

You don't know until you get here.

You ready for dumbass or drongo?

Let's do it.

You're 18 of 27.

Don't say that, Bron.

I know.

66%.

I've been on

fire lately, but like, let's just relax.

Let's one at a time.

OK.

And I understand.

I think today is going to be a good day for you because these stories are pretty straightforward.

The first story, a flight from Panama.

had to return over a suspected bomb.

The plane was in midair to its destination when the pilots were told about the possible bomb on the flight.

All 144 passengers were evacuated from the plane.

An anti-explosives team searched the plane afterward to find out what was an adult diaper in one of the plane's bathrooms.

What we'll be looking for is if that's a dumbass or a drongo, and which state the plane was intended to land in.

It's dumb ass because it's Panama.

It's nowhere near Australia.

There's no Panamanian flights that go to Australia?

No.

I don't

think so.

I'm surprised that you've locked it in already because the second story, a man from Mildura had to rescue his dog from an animal's clutches.

The large animal had a hold of the man's dog and the dog's head was barely above water.

During the confrontation, the man told the animal, quote,

I'm going to punch your effing head in.

Well, I know that's stronger because Miljura is in Australia and I reckon I'm going to say that's in.

Is Miljura in South Australia or New South Wales?

I'm going to go with South Australia.

Okay.

I'm going to hold that for just a second.

Miljura, where is that?

And the dumb ass one?

I don't know where that was going.

Probably Florida.

I don't know.

Final answer on both.

Yeah, so you have the dumb ass correct and You also have the state correct two for two on that one.

It was intended to land in Florida You have a late you have a

juror.

Where is that

you have the big

Victoria?

You have more stressful than playing on a Saturday.

Are you serious?

South Australia

South Australia

No, New South Wales.

Mm-hmm.

You'd mentioned it here just a few seconds ago.

So Victoria it is isn't it?

It is.

It's Northwest Victoria.

I was

about to say is it the border of New South Wales, Victoria?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Damn

it.

You got three out of four today.

It's got to be close to South Australia too.

Correct.

Very close.

It's right across the border.

Do you happen to know what the animal might have been that was holding the dog?

In the river

Yeah,

it was a large animal No The animal was a kangaroo

Really?

I was gonna guess that but I'm not in the river

So the kangaroo was holding on to the edge of the dog like with its head like just above water and the man then told The animal I'm going to effing punch your head in and then the kangaroo fought back

The individual who was recording the confrontation, his name is Mick.

He's a mixed martial arts and Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor with the account at Mildura Martial Arts 1, but claims people are already asking him if he will start teaching rujitsu.

Oh, God, stop.

Stop.

I don't want to hear that.

That's ridiculous.

Any encounters with a kangaroo ever?

No.

Well, like at the golf course you say that, but no encounter.

Are they what would be the equivalent here in Iowa of the deer just kind of on the edge of the course just hanging out?

Yeah.

Pretty much, yeah.

I don't think deer around here are going to try and drown a dog in the water though.

So I think no kangaroos have deer up on us.

I would agree.

Nicely done.

You are at 21 of 30 right now on there we go as we wrap up this episode Legitimately punting was winning in the last game and you can get the punting is winning shirt.

Where is that available at?

Right on get the ray gun and it helps out the count the kicks program, correct?

Yes, sir was great episode here today to talk about Ozzie punters I didn't realize 61 of 133 in the FBS had

Ozzy punters on their rosters.

That's incredible.

You're going to take over very soon.

I already

am.

I already am.

Tori,

thanks for the time.

Appreciate it, Brian.

Thank you.

That will do it for this week's jock to jock podcast.

Next week, the Iowa team is on a buy, so I figured Tori can take some time to rest up from playing out there on the field and having to deal with me on the jock to jock podcast, which is sponsored by I'm on communications.

Experience the I'm on difference.