New San Francisco 49ers punter Mitch Wishnowsky spoke to Bay Area reporters via a conference call after being selected in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Here is everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
The fourth round, is that higher than you were expecting to be taken?
"Yes. I don't know, you think punters normally get taken, like it sort of starts in the fifth. I feel like I really got along with coach [special teams coordinator Richard] Hightower and coach [assistant special teams coach Stan] Kwan, and I was hoping it would be San Fran, and I think San Fran were about two picks away, and I got a call, and I was like, 'You are kidding me.' Unbelievable."
And you met the two coaches when they came out for your Pro Day at Utah?
"No, they didn't come to the Pro Day, they came in person, like there was a personal workout where they came, we had dinner, went for a punt the next day."
You had three punts blocked last season. What do you have to do to tighten that up in the NFL?
"I mean, I just have to work on my consistent get-off, make sure that doesn't happen. I mean, I've been working a lot in the offseason. I feel like I've got everything tightened up, so I'm confident that that can be avoided easily."
Is it true you can kick with both feet?
"I mean, I can kick with my left foot decent. It's nothing pretty. I definitely prefer to put it on the right, but if necessary, I can throw it on the left and maybe get something out of it."
Are you also a holder?
"Yes. I take a lot of pride in my holding."
What's your kickoff history?
"I kicked off in 2017. I haven't 100-percent got down exactly my steps and stuff, but I feel like I've got a strong leg. Yeah, I'm confident kicking off."
Is that something that the 49ers discussed with you as something that they'd want you to do for them this year?
"Potentially. In the workout I did some kickoffs. I was hitting the ball well. But yeah, I mean, they mentioned it's obviously a weapon, either the kicker or the punter can kick off, but if they're both good at it, it's just a plus."
If you could, could you explain how you went from being an apprentice as a glass installer to now a punter in America?
"So I played Australian League football and had a few shoulder injuries. I had two operations on my left shoulder, which sort of took me out of the action in the Aussie rules football. And then I sort of just for fun would go down and play flag American football with a couple of my mates at a park, and basically was seen there punting and messing around by a guy called Craig Wilson, who knows Nathan Chapman and John Smith at ProKick Australia, and then a few months later I was out fishing and got a call from John, and John told me he would change my life, send me to America, all that good stuff. I went home, told my folks that John Smith is going to send me to America, and they thought I was smoking something. I ended up just handing in my resignation at work, moving to Melbourne for a year to train and learn the standard two-punt spiral because we sort of learned to punt on the run in Australian football. Yeah, moved to Santa Barbara to junior college, played one year, did 18 months to finish my AA degree and then went to Utah for three."
Nathan spoke glowingly about you throughout the whole process. Can you talk about what it was like working with him? And you did it for a year, is that correct?
"Yeah, about a year, and then he'll come out to America and sort of help clean up guys' styles as they develop bad habits over here and stuff like that. A year, but sort of on and off for five years now."
He said that if he could go back and do it all again, he would do it all differently. What were some of the things that he taught you to kind of ease your transition into the NFL?
"Well, I think he basically tried to come straight from Australia into the NFL, and it's a lot different kicking big, like kicking big high punts in the park with no rush, no helmet, no pressure, no crowd noise, nothing like that, to going straight into the NFL. There's not many guys that go into college and have their freshman year as like an outstanding year. You learn things along the way. You learn how to read punt return units and stuff like that, where to put the ball. So I think he sort of, he slowly changed his sort of main objective to go instead of straight to NFL, to college, that way you earn yourself a name, you sort of get more exposure, and then it's easier for you to transition into the NFL from there."
Is it a little different for you being your age and then being at college with a lot of guys that are quite a bit younger than you?
"No, but also I went to Utah where there's lots of returned missionaries. So like when I first got there, Andy Phillips, my kicker, I think was 27, and he was one of my best mates, like punter/kicker. Chase Hansen is my age, who's in the draft this year. There's a few older guys. But no, I feel like most people in sports sort of have the same mindset and we're all working towards the same goal, so age doesn't, never really played too much of a part."
We saw you doing a fake punt on one of the highlights that they showed. Is that something that you enjoy doing? Does it bring you back to your Aussie rules football days?
"Yeah, I love it. I feel like throwing in a fake can sort of keep opposition honest. You can't turn your back and do all hold up. You can't double both gunners and leave the box short or anything like that. I feel like it keeps the opposition on their toes and also it's a serious rush to run the ball."
Where are you calling from right now?
"I'm in Santa Barbara. I'm at my girlfriend's house in Santa Barbara."
