LAKE FOREST, — Newly drafted Chicago Bears punter Tory Taylor is one of several rookies getting their first exposure at playing football at the professional level this weekend as rookie minicamp began on Friday. Despite the change of scenery and heavy expectations laid upon the Australian native, who was drafted with an unusually high fourth-round selection in this past NFL Draft, Taylor reiterated his excitement to be a part of the Monsters of the Midway when he addressed the media on Saturday.

“A lot’s kind of come about in the last three or four years,” Taylor stated when asked what emotions he felt after signing his first NFL contract. “Like I said, I’m really just grateful to be here, really nice people in the building. It’s really just an honor. At the end of the day, it’s the Chicago Bears. Yesterday before my first ever punt period in the NFL, [special teams] coach [Richard] Hightower came up to me and was like, ‘Man, you’re a Chicago Bear.’ That really helped me settle the nerves a little bit. Like I said, I’m just really grateful to be here, certainly come a long way in a few years.”

Taylor was quick to admit that adjusting to kicking an American football is something that didn’t come naturally. Taylor’s love for the game came after originally playing Aussie rules football while growing up in Australia. He spent his tenure in college perfecting his craft kicking an American football while being a member of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“So Australian rules football is a lot bigger so the sweet spot is a lot bigger,” Taylor explained when asked about the difference between kicking an Aussie rules football and an American football. “So it’s obviously the American footall is a lot harder to consistently hit. I started punting, it would have been about five years ago. Yeah, I joined Prokick Australia in I think it was July 2019 so yeah, just under five years. So like I said at the start,  a lot has happened since then. Yeah, five years ago when I picked up an American football for first time.”

Taylor’s dedication to mastering the ability to accurately punt an American football caught the eye of Bears general manager Ryan Poles, who opted to take Taylor with the team’s fourth-round draft selection in late April. Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower addressed the media on Saturday about what he has liked about Taylor after seeing him kick for the first time during minicamp.

“First of all, his character,” Hightower stated when asked what stood about Taylor during the pre-draft process. “High-character person, really good teammate. Just an outstanding person, obviously an outstanding talent as well. But he’s a really, really, really good teammate. The most important thing to Tory is winning, and that’s very evident when you talk to him. He just wants to win. No nonsense and he wants to win and he wants to do his part to help the team win.”

Aside from being a team-first player, Hightower also delved into what he liked about Taylor’s mechanics when kicking the ball, specifically the perfect balance he can achieve between touch and strength whenever he punts.

“It’s rare. The strength in his leg and then the touch that he has. You guys saw the strength in his leg yesterday. Yesterday we worked open-field punting and he’s as good as advertised. Did a nice job yesterday. He looked comfortable. Excited to see him today. We worked open field yesterday, today we’re going to work the plus-50 area, so closer in.”

With the Bears releasing their previous starting punter Trenton Gill on May 1 after two years with the team, Poles has sent a resounding message that he has confidence in Taylor taking the reigns as Chicago’s punter for the foreseeable future. A successful rookie campaign from the Aussie native should allow for the defense to thrive as opposing offenses have to set up drives deep in their own territory. 

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