Darren Bennett
| Darren Bennett | |
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Position (s): Punter |
Jersey number (s): 2 |
| born on January 9, 1965 in Perth , Australia | |
| Career information | |
| Active : 1995 - 2005 | |
| Undrafted in 1994 | |
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| Career statistics | |
| Punts | 843 |
| Punting yards | 36,316 |
| Average yards | 43.4 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Darren Leslie Bennett (born January 9, 1965 in Perth ) is a retired Australian American football and Australian football player . He is one of the few athletes to have played in both the US National Football League (NFL) and the Australian Australian Football League (AFL). Bennett is a member of the NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team and the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame.
Bennett began his AFL career in 1987 with the West Coast Eagles before moving to Melbourne Football Club in 1989 . In 78 professional games, he scored 215 goals and built a reputation for long, precise kicks. After he ended his AFL career due to injury in 1993, he turned to American football. He retrained to punter and auditioned for the NFL's San Diego Chargers . Bennett made it into the Practice Squad and was loaned out to the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe for one season before becoming a regular punter of the Chargers in 1995. He made the "Australian punt" popular, an Australian football kicking technique in which the football is kicked with a lot of backwards kick . The ball barely bounces forward on impact, so Bennett was able to kick wide punts into the opposing end zone without taking a high risk of touchback : he nailed the opposing team within the 20-yard line 262 times and only allowed 62 touchbacks. As a former AFL player, he was also able to tackle the opposing punt returner reliably , which was rare among punters at the time. Bennett made it to the Pro Bowl twice (1995 and 2000) and was elected to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. In 2004 he moved to the Minnesota Vikings and ended his NFL career a year later.
Private life
Bennett is married to his wife, Rosemary, and they have two daughters. One of them suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy , so he campaigns against this disease.
Web links
| personal data | |
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| SURNAME | Bennett, Darren |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bennett, Darren Leslie |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | australian american football and australian football players |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 9, 1965 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Perth |