TCU punter discusses moving to the U.S. to play college football
FORT WORTH, Texas (BVM) — Senior Hornfrog Jordy Sandy has had a unique college experience compared to his teammates and peers in the classroom. Sandy came to the United States to pursue his dreams of being a college punter. However, his journey has been anything but ordinary.
Sandy, who is originally from Victoria, Australia, came to the United States in 2019 after receiving a full scholarship to play football at Texas Christian University. Sandy was ranked the No. 5 punter in the class of 2019 and the No. 1 punter in Australia according to 247Sports.
Sandy explained that his love for the game had originated in his hometown of Victoria, Australia, where he played a similar sport that translates to punting called Aussie Football. Australian rules football also known as “Aussie Rules” is similar to rugby in the sense that players do not wear padding. However, Australian rules football is played on an oval–shaped field instead of a rectangle one and the aim of the game is to kick the ball through two large uprights.
Aussie Rules football is extremely popular in Sandy’s hometown of Victoria, which is home to the Cordner–Eggleston Cup. Sandy explained that growing up in Victoria has had a huge impact on his aspirations to play football and become a punter in the United States.
“After growing up playing Aussie rules my whole life, I started to think you know, ‘hey, maybe I could have a shot at going to college as a punter,’” Sandy said.
Sandy said that in 2018 he learned of an academy called ProKick Australia which teaches players how to punt and kick. Specifically, this academy helps Australians get recruited to play at the collegiate or NFL level.
“I started going to ProKick and after six months of training, I got my first offer to Texas Tech; to me the appeal of getting a college education and playing in front of thousands of fans was a dream come true,” Sandy said.
Sandy went on to accept this offer from Texas Tech but later retracted his commitment after the coach who recruited him was fired. A few months later, Sandy was offered again, by Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.
“I remember when I got the offer from TCU, it was so crazy for me because a few years prior, my brother and his soon-to-be fiancé moved to Fort Worth so I would only be a short drive away from them,” Sandy said. “It just felt like everything worked out the way it was supposed to.”
Although things were looking bright for Sandy’s future, things took a sudden turn just a few months before he was due to leave for TCU.
“Three months before I was supposed to leave for TCU, I sustained an injury that really put my future plans in jeopardy from working in a warehouse back at home,” Jordy said.
Sandy explained that he began getting shooting pains down his neck and shoulder into his arm. After numerous doctor visits, Sandy finally figured out what was wrong with him. Sandy was told that he had a prolapsed disk in his neck that would require immediate surgery to repair.
“I remember this was so hard for me to accept, as not only would I now have plates and screws put in my neck, but I also believe that there was a very real possibility of my football career being over,” Sandy said.
He described the feelings he had leading up to the surgery.
“I just remember feeling like there’s no way I am going to be able to keep my scholarship, I am not going to be able to play football again, what if the surgery doesn’t fix it? You know, all these negative, anxious thoughts are running through your head,” Sandy said.
However, TCU reassured Sandy that they would honor his scholarship so Sandy went through with the surgery and has been on the road to success ever since.
“I’ve definitely had a different experience than a lot of others considering I started playing college football at age 25 coming from Australia, but I’ve got to meet a lot of awesome people and see a lot of cool things so it’s all worth it,” Sandy said.
Sandy has earned several career honors during his time at TCU, taking home Second Team All-Big 12 honors and the Ray Guy Award – which honors the nation’s best collegiate punter. Sandy is looking forward to the upcoming football season with hopes of playing at the professional level after college.
