Another Aussie joins Hayne at 49ers

The number of Australians playing for NFL teams has swelled to 10 with offensive lineman Blake Muir and kicker Brad Caddock scoring gigs.

Jarryd Hayne will have a mate to say g'day to in the San Francisco 49ers' locker room this year with the NFL team signing Sydney offensive lineman Blake Muir.

Hayne should be nice to 198cm tall, 143kg Muir who spent his early years learning American football with the Sutherland Seahawks Gridiron Club in Sydney.

One of Muir's main jobs will be using his massive body to create holes in opposing defensive lines for Hayne and the other 49ers running backs to slip through.

There was other good post-NFL Draft news for Australia on Sunday (Monday (AEST), with Adelaide goal kicker Brad Craddock signing with the Cleveland Browns.

"Very thankful for the opportunity to continue kicking," Craddock wrote on Twitter.

"Looking forward to getting up to Cleveland."

Muir, Craddock and punter Tom Hackett had the disappointment of enduring the three-day, seven-round NFL Draft that ended in Chicago on Saturday without hearing their names called.

However, it did not take long for NFL teams to swoop in and pick them up as free agents.

Muir has four years of US college experience, spending the last three at Baylor University in Texas where he was named to the Big 12 conference's first team twice.

Muir, who like most of Australia's latest crop of NFL players grew up playing Aussie rules, also had a year at the University of Hawaii.

His brother, Sean, is also an offensive lineman at Baylor.

New 49ers coach Chip Kelly has aggressively used the draft and free agency to re-load his club's offensive and defensive lines, which were among the worst in the NFL last season.

Craddock, who went to the US as a punter, ended up becoming one of college football's top kickers at the University of Maryland.

It was a surprise Hackett did not get drafted after his exceptional four years at the University of Utah where he was named college football's top punter the past two years.

Hackett, signed as a free agent, will go head-to-head with fellow Victorian punter Lachlan Edwards for the New York Jets' job.

Edwards, who played for Sam Houston State University in Texas, was drafted in the seventh round.

Edwards and Melbourne defensive tackle Adam Gotsis, a star at Georgia Tech selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round, were the only Australians picked up at this year's draft.

Former AFL player Joel Wilkinson was signed as a free agent earlier this year by the Arizona Cardinals as a cornerback while Sydney offensive lineman David Yankey is with the Carolina Panthers.

The cut-throat nature of the NFL, however, leaves every player in a precarious position with teams able to cut them at any time.

Australia's NFL contingent this year now consists of Hayne and Muir (49ers); punter Brad Wing (New York Giants); punter Jordan Berry (Pittsburgh Steelers); offensive lineman David Yankey (Carolina Panthers); punters Edwards and Hackett (Jets); Gotsis (Broncos); Wilkinson (Cardinals); and Craddock (Browns).

Former Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Jesse Williams was waived by the team in March after his battle with cancer and knee injuries.


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Source: AAP



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