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Mitch Wishnowsky

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Mitch Wishnowsky
refer to caption
Wishnowsky with the 49ers in 2020
No. 18 – San Francisco 49ers
Position:Punter
Personal information
Born: (1992-03-03) 3 March 1992 (age 32)
Gosnells, Western Australia
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:Perth (WA) Lumen Christi College
College:Utah (2016–2018)
NFL draft:2019 / round: 4 / pick: 110
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2023
Punts:258
Punting yards:11,735
Average punt:45.5
Inside 20:113
Points scored:9
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Mitchell Wishnowsky[1] (born 3 March 1992) is an Australian professional American football punter for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft after a college career at Utah, where he won the Ray Guy Award and was a unanimous All-American as a sophomore in 2016.[2][3]

Early life

Wishnowsky was born in Gosnells, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, to New Zealand parents from Hawke's Bay.[4] He was a student of Lumen Christi College from 2005 to 2009. He grew up playing Australian rules football, but was forced to give up the sport at age 18 due to repeated shoulder injuries. By that time, he had dropped out of secondary school at age 16 to become a glazier. While the work paid well enough for him to purchase a house in his hometown near Perth along with his best friend, he grew to hate the job and sought another career path. Although no longer playing full-contact Australian rules, he continued to play a flag version of the sport alongside several friends, one of whom had a connection to Prokick Australia, a training centre in Melbourne that converts Australian rules players into gridiron football punters. He left his job and moved across the country in 2013 to enroll in Prokick, spending a year there. By that time, Utah had brought in earlier Prokick graduate Tom Hackett, and were pleased enough with him that they reached an agreement with Prokick director Nathan Chapman to leave a scholarship open for Wishnowsky once Hackett's Utah career ended after the 2015 season. Since Wishnowsky needed time to secure NCAA eligibility, he enrolled in and punted for Santa Barbara City College in 2014, and redshirted in 2015, remaining in Santa Barbara to complete his associate degree and conserve NCAA eligibility.[5]

College career

During his Ray Guy Award-winning season in 2016, he was second in Division I FBS in punting average (47.7 yards) and first in punts downed inside the opponent's 10-yard line (17). His 2017 season was only slightly less successful, with a 43.9-yard punting average and 10 punts downed inside the 10.[5][6]

Collegiate statistics

Mitch Wishnowsky Punting
Year School Conf Class Pos G Punts Yds Avg
2016 Utah Pac-12 SO P 13 64 3,053 47.7
2017 Utah Pac-12 JR P 13 52 2,282 43.9
2018 Utah Pac-12 SR P 14 59 2,669 45.2
Career Utah 40 175 8,004 45.7

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split Vertical jump Broad jump
6 ft 2+1⁄8 in
(1.88 m) 		218 lb
(99 kg) 		31+1⁄4 in
(0.79 m) 		9+1⁄4 in
(0.23 m)		 4.63 s 1.62 s 2.72 s 32.5 in
(0.83 m)		 9 ft 9 in
(2.97 m)
All values from NFL Combine[7][8][9]

San Francisco 49ers

Wishnowsky was drafted in the fourth round (110th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft.[10] He was the first of two punters to be selected that year.[11] Wishnowsky signed a four-year contract with the 49ers on 30 April 2019.[12] In the ninth week, Wishnowsky landed five punts inside the 20-yard line with a long of 50 yards in a 28–25 win over the Arizona Cardinals, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.[13] Wishnowsky reached Super Bowl LIV as a rookie. However, the 49ers lost 31–20 to the Kansas City Chiefs as Wishnowsky punted twice.

In the second week of the 2021 season, Wishnowsky averaged 45.2 yards per punt with three landing inside the 20 and one inside the five-yard line, earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.[14] Due to an injury to Robbie Gould, Wishnowsky took over field goal and extra point kicking duties for a 3 October 2021 game versus the Seattle Seahawks. Wishnowsky made one out of two extra points and missed a 41-yard field goal.[15] Wishnowsky is the first Australian to score a point in an NFL game.[16]

On September 16, 2022, Wishnowsky signed a four-year, $13 million contract extension with the 49ers.[17]

On July 25, 2023, Wishnowsky was placed on the active/non-football injury list.[18]

References

  1. ^ Clemmons, Anna Katherine (17 January 2020). "49ers' Mitch Wishnowsky would've slept on a bathroom floor to be an NFL punter". ESPN. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  2. ^ Goon, Kyle (8 December 2016). "Mitch Wishnowsky wins Utah's third straight Ray Guy Award". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 18 December 2016. Open access icon
  3. ^ Goon, Kyle (14 December 2016). "Mitch Wishnowsky earns unanimous consensus All-American status". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 18 December 2016. Open access icon
  4. ^ Connor, Fiona (22 January 2020). "Mitch Wishnowsky's Super Bowl moment with 49ers: Kiwi parents 'unbelievably proud'". Newshub. Mediaworks TV. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b Niesen, Joan (16 August 2018). "Mitch Wishnowsky and Utah Are Setting the Pace in a New Phase of the Australian Punter Pipeline". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Mitch Wishnowsky College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Mitch Wishnowsky Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  8. ^ "2019 Draft Scout Mitch Wishnowsky, Utah NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Mitch Wishnowsky 2019 NFL Draft Profile". insider.espn.com. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  10. ^ Fann, Joe (27 April 2019). "49ers Select P Mitch Wishnowsky with No. 110 Pick in 2019 NFL Draft". 49ers.com. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  11. ^ "2019 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  12. ^ "49ers Sign P Mitch Wishnowky". 49ers.com. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  13. ^ Bergman, Jeremy (6 November 2019). "Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson among Players of the Week". NFL.com.
  14. ^ Gordon, Grant (22 September 2021). "Titans RB Derrick Henry, Cardinals QB Kyler Murray among NFL Players of the Week". NFL.com.
  15. ^ Josh Alper (3 October 2021). "Robbie Gould out, Mitch Wishnowsky misses FG for 49ers". NBC Sports. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  16. ^ Gerard Laws (4 October 2021). "Aussie punter Wishnowsky makes NFL history in bizarre circumstances". Yahoo. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  17. ^ "49ers sign punter Mitch Wishnowsky to four-year extension worth up to $13 million". NFL.com. 16 September 2022.
  18. ^ "49ers Place Mitch Wishnowsky on Active/Non-Football Injury List; Sign Cornerback". 49ers.com. 25 July 2023.
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