Who is Mitch Wishnowsky?

Mitch Wishnowsky is an Australian football punter for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Born on date, he played college football at Utah and was drafted by the 49ers in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. 

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Wishnowsky was born in Australia to parents from New Zealanders. He played Australian rules football as a child, but at age 18, frequent shoulder problems prompted him to stop playing. Despite no longer participating in full-contact Australian rules, he continued to play the sport with a group of friends in a flag version. One of his pals had ties to Prokick Australia, a Melbourne training facility that turns Australian rules players into punters for gridiron football. In 2013, he quit his job and relocated across the nation to enrol in Prokick, where he spent a year.

At that point, Utah had signed Tom Hackett, a previous Prokick graduate, and was satisfied enough with him that they and Prokick director Nathan Chapman came to an agreement for Hackett to keep a scholarship open for Wishnowsky once his tenure at Utah came to an end following the 2015 season. Wishnowsky redshirted in 2015, staying in Santa Barbara to get his associate degree and maintain his NCAA eligibility because he needed time to enrol in the NCAA. Wishnowsky had to enrol in Santa Barbara City College in order to punt for them in 2014.

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In college, he won the Ray Guy award as a sophomore, given annually to college football’s best punter. The 2019 NFL Draft’s fourth round saw Wishnowsky selected as the 110th overall pick. On April 30, 2019, he agreed to a four-year deal with the 49ers. Wishnowsky was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in the ninth week after landing five punts  inside the 20-yard line with a long of 50 yards in a 28-25 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Wishnowsky was a rookie when he made it to Super Bowl IV. However, Wishnowsky punted twice as the 49ers fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 31–20.

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Wishnowsky won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in the second week of the 2021 season with a punting average of 45.2 yards, three inside the 20, and one inside the five-yard line. Wishnowsky took over field goal and extra point kicker responsibilities for a 3 October 2021 game against the Seattle Seahawks due to Robbie Gould’s injury. Wishnowsky made one of two extra points while missing a field goal attempt from 41 yards. He is also the first Australian to score in an NFL game.