Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Former Iowa punter Michael Sleep-Dalton joins the show to talk Hawkeyes, training for the NFL, and playing Aussie rules football

Episode Date: March 5, 2020

Former Iowa Hawkeye punter Michael Sleep-Dalton joins the show to talk about his preparation for the NFL Draft, the journey that led him to Iowa City, and his time playing competitive Aussie rules football. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He's got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes. Welcome back to another episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast,

your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. I am your host, Andrew Wade. It is a beautiful Thursday morning here in Denver, Colorado, where I live. It's going to be 60 degrees today, so absolutely excited about that. I hope the weather is great wherever you are, and we have a great episode coming at you today. Even if your weather is not good, at least you have something to look forward to. And that is today's interview with Iowa's former punter, Michael Sleep Dalton, the grad transfer from Arizona State, the former Australian electrician. You're going to love listening to this episode.

I enjoyed interviewing him and talking to him. Very open with us about his story and his thoughts and feelings. Obviously, very, very happy about his decision to come to Iowa City. Loves all of Iowa Hawkeye Nation. I think we've converted him into an Iowa Hawkeye guy. So love to talk to him. You're going to really like this interview. Before we jump into that, though, make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you

downloaded this podcast at, whether that is Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the brand new Himalaya Podcast app. And make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. That's how you can get the latest information about what is going on right here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. That being said, I don't want to take any more time away from this interview. So let's jump into it right now with Michael Sleep Dalton. All right.

We are joined here by Michael Sleep Dalton, the punter from the Iowa Hawkeyes from this past 2019 season. Michael, thank you for joining the show. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day. How are you doing today, man? Yeah, Andrew, I'm doing great, mate. Yeah, it's good to get some better weather in Iowa, and better than the snow.

Yeah, so we can jump into some of the more important stuff in a bit, but how is the adjustment going to Iowa from a weather perspective? mean you were in Australia you were then in Arizona San Francisco has a pretty nice temperament and then you went to Iowa yeah um I really didn't I guess I really didn't notice that the sudden change until probably midway through the season or you know sort of just after you know it just just in the middle of October sort of time, the weather really started to change. You know, the warmer days left and the wind picked up and, you know, the cold mornings stayed until, you know, the afternoon and it was, yeah, it was a bit of a change.

Yeah, I mean, I'm a lifelong Iowa person. It can was a bit of a change yeah i couldn't i mean i'm a i'm a lifelong iowa person it can be a bit miserable man yeah absolutely so i i heard i heard many bad stories about about how how bad the winters get and and how cold the season gotten from from what i've heard it wasn't too bad this year and if and if't bad this year then I don't know what it's like when it's bad. Yeah I mean I follow along pretty closely with the weather and it didn't seem like Iowa got hit that hard this year but yeah there has been some pretty bad years I'm glad you were at least able to get a pretty mild one. Yeah so am I. Awesome man well one of the reasons and we're going to touch on some of your previous stuff but one of the reasons you wanted to head to Iowa it sounded like was to be able to touch on some of your previous stuff, but one of the reasons you wanted to head to Iowa, it sounded like,

was to be able to punt in some inclement weather, some more difficult type of conditions. Do you feel like you got that experience that you wanted? I definitely did. I guess saying that you want to go and challenge yourself in colder climates and more heavily weather-affected places. And then when it comes to it and the reality of actually having to do it, it's a lot different.

I'm glad I did it, and I definitely got challenged, especially towards the end of the season. There was some very cold afternoon night games at Wisconsin and Nebraska. Nebraska was probably one of the worst ones. But, you know, I thoroughly enjoyed it. And I think it helped me, you know, become a better punter and a better football player. Yeah, man, I think that's a pretty, you know,

ballsy and courageous move to be able to say, I'm going to leave Arizona State and try to find and seek out bad weather so I can try to be a better punter I mean not a lot of people are willing to do that I think that's pretty cool you did that man yeah I mean it was it was either between Iowa and Alabama and two very different so I'm very happy I made the decision I did and I wouldn't change it for the world I love it, man. Well, I want to touch on that here in a bit because I think there's a lot to touch on with the Iowa piece, but I do want to back up and just talk about the fact that you came from Australia.

You were an electrician for four years, I believe, correct? That's correct, yep. So what was that like? How did you just get a call to train to be a punter? I know you played Australian rules football back in Australia, but what made you have that decision to go and start trying to be a punter overseas?

So I was, yeah, so playing Aussie football, playing professional Aussie football was always a dream of mine. And it was an achievable dream too when I was,

you know, sort of 16. And I had a pretty severe knee injury, and it was an achievable dream too when I was 16 and I had a pretty severe knee injury which had a major setback for me and sort of made it a lot harder. I was on a level down from the professionals training and playing there and it was just too much of a commitment with that and then also working at the same time.

So I was working and my cousin at Ohio State, Cam Johnson, who I played football with, he was going through the process of pro kick. And he told me one day, just come down and have a kick with him. And I did. And, you know, he's like come down to pro kick and have a kick with Chappie and get assessed and sort of go from there. So I did.

That's sort of how the ball got rolling. Went down and had a punt with Chappie, Nathan Chapman. And, you know, like I said, lot i got real potential you know to go to college and and potentially the next level so i was like why not give it a crack so sort of did and um i had to go to junior college which which wasn't the most ideal route but uh it was a cool experience to live in san francisco for you know sort, you know, 18 months and met some cool people and made some good connections and then got recruited to ASU. And, you know, I loved my time at ASU.

And once Todd Graham got fired, that kind of started a bit of a, you know, uneasy time at asu you know coaches didn't know what was going on and people were coming and going and i actually thought about transferring the same the the year that um that coach graham got fired but ended up sticking sticking it out and staying there and um yeah and then and then ended up putting my name in the transfer portal after after my junior year and yeah had a few schools reached out to me and with my coaches back in Australia sort of decided that you know I would be the be the best route for me to go to chase my goals of playing NFL and yeah a long story short i love

it man well i mean i think i can speak for for all iowa hawkeye fans we are really glad that you made the decision to come to iowa and pump for the hawks um as you can probably tell hawkeye fans take their football very seriously i don't know if you noticed that or not uh i definitely did and that's something that i loved about, you know, especially Big Ten football, but down here in Iowa City, the fans just absolutely love it, and, you know, whether it was rain, hail, shine, snow, you know, all the fans were there for the majority of the time, you know, and it was great. It was an awesome experience, and I loved every minute of it.

That's awesome, man. You talked a little bit about playing the level just below the pros in Australian rules. Yep. Would you say you're the most athletic punter in this upcoming draft class? No, not anymore. Definitely not. I'm a little older than I, you know, back in the day. Back in the day, when I was, I say back in the day, but like, you know, when I was, you know, 18, 19, playing at a high level of football, I would say I was very, very athletic.

But, you know, now I don't do as much conditioning. I just focus on, you know, my flexibility, my mobility, doing yoga and, you know and eating well and lifting well. Coach Doyle looks after me quite a lot, which is good. Obviously, I'm not that young. I mean, I am, but I'm not. So I've kind of got to look after my body and not take it for granted because if I get an injury,

it really puts a puts a setback in things and yeah I get it man I think you're what 27 28 27 yeah okay yeah so I am uh this is not a show about me but I'm 29 and I I definitely saw the difference in my body from 24 to 25 to 29 and holy crap it does take a toll even doing like basic things like oh my gosh what is going on yeah if you start working out for a couple weeks and then you get back into it you're a little sorrier than you used to be yeah um so going to city college of san francisco how did you end up there i know you said it wasn't the you know the preferred route right but you did it and i think it obviously worked out but But how did you end up at City College specifically?

Yeah, so, well, I guess what that like five years ago, the route for people to go to college that didn't have the credits in Australia to transfer straight to college was to go to JUCO. to transfer straight to college was to go to JUCO. And I was actually meant to go to Santa Barbara City College, but I didn't end up going there due to, I honestly forget why I didn't go there. But I ended up, yeah, they had a relationship, Nathan Chappie had a relationship with Coach Muno,

who was an offensive line coach at at city college and he's still there he um they had two other two other aussie punters previously um sam erwin hill who's actually on the list at atlanta falcons and uh chris tilby who punted at usc so they they were the two guys that were there before me. And Tilbs finished his season, and they needed somewhere else. So I rolled on through. I played a year, and then, yeah, that's sort of how things rolled. Worked out pretty well. I mean, it looked like you were rated the number one punter in the class in the country that year.

So that was awesome. And then you got to go to Arizona State. Spent a couple years there. You said you had a lot of fun. Was the fun primarily football, or did you have a lot of fun in general? Because my family's from Arizona, and I know Mill Ave's a pretty good time, man. Yeah, yeah, you had a lot of fun in general. Yeah, I mean, you know, you obviously got to know how to control yourself

and when to have fun, when not to have fun. But for people that don't know how to, yeah, control themselves, it's probably not the best place to go. Yeah. It's just because there's so many distractions. But, I mean, like, you know, I met my fiancée there. So, you know, I mean, it was an absolute blessing to go there.

Loved it, and, you know, everything happens for a reason, and I left, it came here, and honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I love it, man. Well, congratulations on the engagement. I don't know how recent that was, but congratulations either way, man. Appreciate it. Yeah, that was a little last March, actually. A little year ago. Oh, man, alright, so I'm super. Yeah, that was a little last March, actually. A little year ago. Oh, man. All right. So I'm super belated, but happy belated engagement. No, you're all right.

Thanks. So right now, are you training for the NFL draft then? Yep, I am. Awesome. So you're getting ready for Pro Day and whatnot. What are some of the main things you're focusing on? Have you talked to any teams at this point? Talk to me a little bit through that process if you can. I guess I signed with an agent a couple weeks ago, probably a month and a half ago, Ryan Hayes, with JB Sports, and I guess that was sort of the first hurdle to get over.

And then, you know, I mean, it's been hard out here punting just because of how poor the weather is and that, but it's starting to get a little better. I'd actually traveled to Arizona a couple of times sort of over the last month, month and a half, two months, to train because I can't really punt here and I can't punt now indoor. Yep. And then we had – there was a, I guess, a combine for play

for anyone that didn't get invited to the NFL combine on the – it was two weeks ago. Oh, it was this week, yeah. Yeah, and I competed in that and did pretty well. So, I mean, that was just sort of, you know, getting your name out there, getting your face out there and also having the ability to sort of see, you know, who you're competing against and, you know,

what other guys are coming out of college. And, you know, obviously you don't play against everyone. So, good on that perspective. And at the moment you know i'm still in school so i'm still studying um and i'm also you know just doing yoga and i work out with with uh with the other guys that are training for the nfl you know every day we all work out and yeah that's sort of that's sort of what i'm doing punting punting as much as i can but not too much and uh i'm gonna start punting a little bit more since the weather's actually getting better Yeah, that's sort of what I'm doing. Punting as much as I can, but not too much.

And I'm going to start punting a little bit more since the weather's actually getting better. But yeah, that's sort of what I'm doing. Awesome, man. How did the combine go? How would you assess your performance? Yeah, I had a pretty good performance. It was a little harder of a combine because we actually meant to punt on the Saturday but it ended up raining on the Saturday so they changed it to the Friday and it was all rushed.

It wasn't bad. I performed pretty well. I was quite happy with how I punted. It was real windy too. I punted well. It was good to see the competition I'm pretty well. I was quite happy with how I punted. It was real windy too. But yeah, I mean, I punted well. It was good to see the competition who I'm up against. And yeah, so. I love it, man. So if you had to pick an opportunity, an ideal opportunity,

where would you pick if you got to play NFL football? What team would you pick? I mean, I'd go anywhere. In an ideal world, I mean, I'd go anywhere. But, in an ideal world, I mean, I'd love to go to Cardinals. Thank you,

man. Because one of my good mates is Zane Gonzalez, so he's the kicker there. It's pretty cool to reunite with him. I mean, I'd take anywhere.

But yeah, Cardinals, Cardinals or Miami Dolphins would be cool. Yeah, we've got some warm weather areas. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because my fiance's from, she's be cool. Yeah, I mean, got some warm weather areas. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, because my fiancée's from Miami, so, you know, it'd be nice to be around her family as well. Makes sense, man. Is it tough being away from Australia, then? Do you miss your family, your old friends back there? Yeah, I mean, you know, I've got over the whole homesick thing. When I was first in San Fran, I got hit pretty hard with homesickness and that. But, like, I've got a great family support base.

And, you know, I speak to my parents quite a bit and my grandparents. And my little brother's actually coming out to punt shortly, well, in the next couple of months, not sure where. But, you know, we all have a great, great relationship, and I still keep in contact with quite a few of my friends, and, you know, they've come and visited. I actually had a mate that came out and visited here in Iowa and loved it. I've had a few that have met me in Arizona

and come and watch a few games and hung out there. So, yeah, I've got a good bunch of bunch of friends that you know sort of keep in touch with quite quite regularly that's awesome so um you gotta tell me because again I'm from Iowa I love the state right but I know there's not a ton to always do um so what did you do that made your friend love Iowa so much oh I mean you know I've got it I mean all the guys on the team are just awesome. They just don't make anyone feel welcome. He came and watched us beat Northwestern. Oh, heck yeah.

Yeah, and then my old man was out here for the game against Minnesota. And my fiance was here for Penn State. So they all got to see some pretty good games. Yeah, I mean, all around, the season was pretty great and a lot of fun to watch from an Iowa perspective. So pretty much any game you pick, you're going to have a good time. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. We had a great season, and obviously we lost a couple of close games, which is not ideal, but at the end of the day, we had a 10-win season, and it doesn't happen very often. the Rutgers game because there was kind of a punter duel, man.

I mean, Iowa obviously kicked the crap out of Rutgers. Rutgers is the worst team in the Big Ten. But you and the other punter were going back and forth with some pretty good punts. So did you kind of realize what was going on that day? And did you realize that Iowa fans were kind of losing their minds over such a good punting duel during that day? I really didn't until the end of the game. Until, you know, you sort of check out social media and, you know, you sort of see the numbers

and that. But, nah, I mean, you know, it's always good to play against another Aussie and it's great that we all had a good day and, you know, we ended up winning, which is even better. Yeah. Awesome, man. And what was your favorite experience about being an Iowa Hawkeye? Jesus. Loaded question, right?

Favorite experience? I mean, you know, beating Minnesota and everyone, you know, storming the field was awesome. and everyone storming the field was awesome. But probably having to punt against Iowa State to win the game was probably, on a personal note, pretty awesome. Yeah, so walk me through, because that was a crazy game, right? There was multiple delays, the weather was terrible, and then to end the game on that punt, what was going through your mind? I mean, if you can talk me through some of the emotions of going out there

and punting, watching Devonta Young grabbing that ball. Just kind of – if you can walk me through that, that would be awesome. Yeah, I mean, it was kind of – you know, it was a weird game. You know, obviously we warmed up and then it started raining. It was maybe one or two plays and then it was thunder. We went inside and were inside for an hour and then came back out and warmed up again. Then it played for a little bit longer

and then we were back inside for an hour and a half or something silly. Just trying to keep your legs warm and keep your body warm and it was a bit of a whirlwind of a game but yeah that last play that last punt we had two bloody penalties

and it went from an easy punt inside the inside the 20 to now we're getting backed up. So I just went out there and just sort of hit a good ball outside the numbers. And, you know, their guy ran into the punt returner. We got the ball back. It was great. Yeah, man, I mean, you basically had a walk-off punt.

I don't know if anyone can ever really say that, they had a walk-off punt, but that was impressive. Yeah, I can't say. Yeah, it was an awesome experience, and it was something I'll hold dear for the rest of my life, for sure. Heck yeah, man. Just the last question then. I know a lot of our listeners probably haven't gone the level you have

in terms of punting. What is the most difficult part? I know this is a very loaded question as well but from a punting perspective what is the most difficult part of your day-to-day when trying to um punt the ball well i mean i guess the most the the hardest thing is that i'm still learning um i've only played i've only played three years of college football. One of those years, like my first year at ASU, I tore my quad the Sunday before our first game, so I punted the first four games with my left foot

and then got a jab every other game to be able to just punt. Not many people know that. I mean, I really only had two healthy seasons of college football. And, I mean, I'm still learning. I'm still learning today. Like, it's just a constant learning of how to perfect a craft. Like, you know, I mean, you've got all these quarterbacks and people in different positions have been playing the game for, you know,

since they were kids. And even though, like, I've been kicking a football around, you know, and people in different positions have been playing the game since they were kids. Even though I've been kicking a football around my whole life, I haven't been hitting perfect spirals all the time. It's just about trying to really perfect my craft. I watch a lot of film on NFL players and people that I kind of like, you know, sort of mimic their game to be able to like how I punt. And I'm always learning. I'm still learning. I'm learning as we speak. So yeah, that's probably the hardest thing, just constantly learning. And

you know, the people that I'm competing against for a job have been doing it for a lot longer than I have, even though I'm older or the same age as some punters in the NFL. It's just a constant learning and a constant battle to get better and better each time. One last question based off that. Who's a punter you look up to then? Who's a punter that you try to mimic or watch very often uh i would say thomas morstead has a similar sort of style to how i punt um the two-step punter a lot of a lot of punters these days are you know a jab step but i'm two-step and you know i sort of watch a lot

of what he does and um you know obviously he's he's definitely one of the best punters in the league so um yeah i mean if if i can can do half as good a job as he does, then, you know, I'd be happy. So, yeah, he's the guy that I sort of watch and try and mimic a little bit. That's a good punter to look up to. Yeah, been around for a while, so picked a good one. All right, man, well, Michael,

I don't want to take up too much more of your time. I appreciate you jumping on the show and talking through some of this. Obviously, I learned a lot about you. You know, you can only do so much research, right? I think you were very open and candid with me, and I really appreciate it, man. So thank you again, and I wish you the best of luck with your training and whatnot, and we'll be rooting for you from right here on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. I appreciate it.

You boys are going to be in good hands next year with young Torrey, who's going to join this year. Heck yeah, man. I'm excited. Hopefully just keep passing along the torch, man. Yeah, absolutely. The pipeline. Hell yeah, man.

Well, Michael, have a great rest of your day, man. I'll talk to you later, buddy. All right. Appreciate it. Talk to you. Bye. All right, y'all. And that will do it for our show today.

Just wanted to give you that interview. I thought it was a really great opportunity to talk to you. Bye. All right, y'all, and that will do it for our show today. Just wanted to give you that interview. I thought it was a really great opportunity to talk to Michael. And, again, a big shout-out to Michael if he is listening. I really appreciated the opportunity to talk to him. I appreciated the time he took out of his day to talk about all things, his story, Iowa football, punting, you name it. He was willing to answer any question, and I really appreciate that absolutely. And I hope all of you listening to this did enjoy it as well. If you did like what

you hear today, we do try to get former Iowa Hawkeyes on as much as we can. We also cover every single sport with the Iowa Hawkeyes as much as we can as well on a daily format. So make sure to tune in on all of our other episodes this week and going forward. And you can do that by liking, reviewing, and subscribing wherever you downloaded this podcast at. And make sure to go follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Again, that's how you're going to get the latest information about what is going on right here on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast.

Thank you again for tuning in to today's episode. I hope you had a fantastic day today. I love you, Hawkeye Nation Nation and let's go Hawks.