San Francisco 49ers punter Mitch Wishnowsky talks about the NFL Super Bowl, going undetected in WA

Perth punter Mitch Wishnowsky will have the eyes of the sporting world on him when he plays in the Super Bowl for the San Francisco 49ers next week. But when he returned home to Western Australia for in March the first time since joining the NFL in 2019, nobody noticed him. Wishnowsky earns more than AU$4million per year to punt for the 49ers, has already played in a losing Super Bowl and is one of the best players in his position in the NFL. But he remained anonymous when he came to Perth for a fortnight with his wife Maddie and daughter Bowie. “I don’t know if I was recognised once in Perth,” Wishnowsky said. “Even here, I’m not the biggest compared to everyone else on the team. There’s some guys on the team that if you saw them in public you’d be like ‘that is some sort of football player.’ “I’m not the biggest. I don’t look like ‘he definitely plays sport’ so I can definitely go under the radar. Even here in San Jose, because you wear helmets, I’m rarely noticed. “I tried to take Maddie and Bowie to a lot of the different beaches. City Beach, Cottesloe, Coogee. My folks live in Canning Vale so the closest beach was Coogee. “I was like ‘Maddie, the beaches in Australia are incredible’ so we tried to make it to the beach as often as we could. “We went out for dinner at Crown. Caversham (Wildlife Park), we went to. Hillarys. We were going to go to Rottnest and wanted to go to Margaret River but we were only there for two or three weeks. “When you haven’t seen friends and family, that’s a priority.” Mitch and Maddie then flew to Bali for a spectacular wedding. Wishnowsky has worked hard to maintain his relationships with friends in Perth after moving to the US to pursue his sporting dream. After playing reserves football in the WAFL for Perth Demons, he played college football for the University of Utah where he won the Ray Guy award for the competition’s best punter. That prompted the 49ers to use a fourth round draft pick to recruit him and Wishnowsky become elite in his role, using his wide range of Australian Rules kicking techniques to pinpoint punts and confuse the opposition. He signed a new four-year contract in 2022 as a reward for his impact in San Francisco. He will be a major weapon at Las Vegas’ domed Allegiant Stadium given the lack of wind will allow him to kick with precision. Wishnowsky’s parents, sister, best friend and Australian punting coach will all be in Las Vegas for his second attempt at winning the Super Bowl. Like in 2020, the 49ers will play the Kansas City Chiefs. There’s added hype off the field this time due to Taylor Swift dating Chief’s star Travis Kelce, but Wishnowsky lives in his own bubble and remains blissfully unaware of the media circus Others may be interested in the sideshow, but he’s only interested in being part of the main event. “I know no Aussie has played and won. I’d be stoked to be the first. That’s not something that’s on my mind but it would mean a lot to do that. Hopefully we can it done,” he said. “It’s great to be back. It’s obviously a dream to win the Super Bowl. It’s a great opportunity. The Chiefs are a good team. It would mean everything to get the win.” Punters hold a unique role in the NFL. They’re called upon when the team is in trouble and are expected to kick well every time. Wishnowsky punted just twice in the 2020 Superbowl, averaging 43 yards for his team. He’s averaged a career-high 47.7 yards per punt this season and said he would enjoy his second Super Bowl experience and lot more than the first time. “Throughout my career my career I’ve gotten a little more comfortable. I’ve dealt with the stresses of playing in these big games a bit better,” he said. “Last time my mentality was don’t mess up. It was more like I was scared of the moment. I’ve found ways to manage that. now I think I’ll be able to enjoy it and take it all in. Hopefully it leads to playing free and playing good.” Immensely proud of his journey from Perth glazier to international sporting star, Wishnowsky intends to return to Vegas in March when the NRL plays matches in Sin City. He’s not a NRL fan, but loves the idea that Australian sport will be played in the US. The 31-year-old is doing his best to teach his daughter what it mean to be an Aussie. “Becoming a dad changes your perspective on everything,” he said. “You have a broader view of everything. Representing Australia is something I might not have thought about before but now that I’ve got a daughter, parts of my culture of being Australian I want her to have that as well. Australia Day wasn’t long ago and we were listening to “We Are Australian” and me and Bowie were dancing. “It’s stuff life that. You want to share that stuff with your family. Once I became a dad, my perspective on football changed and it made it a lot more special for me.” Which poses the question, will Perth get to celebrate with Wishnowsky if he creates Australian sporting history and the 49ers win? What are the chances of him coming home with Super Bowl memorabilia? “Zero (chance) after travelling with a young baby,” he said. “Last off-season we went to Kona, Hawaii and then you have to go back to Waikiki, fly to Melbourne, fly to Perth, Bali and Singapore with a two-year-old. “And then with her catching up on time zones, me and Maddie were just like ‘hey, let’s just set up camp in Santa Barbara, do some fishing and stuff like that.’ I definitely won’t be going back to Perth this off-season. It’ll be time to put the feet up.”