Dustin Fletcher has revealed how close he came to taking up an NFL opportunity.
One of Essendon's greatest ever players, Fletcher, who is now aged 46, played 400 games for the men in red and black in a career which stretched from 1993 to 2015.
The defender even kicked 71 goals during his career, winning two AFL premierships and being selected t the All-Australian team twice - in 2000 and 2007. His time at Essendon also saw the club top the premiership ladder at the end of the regular season four times to win the minor premiership.
Originally taken by the Bombers under the father-son rule in the 1992 draft, Fletcher was well-known to have one of the longest kicks in the AFL.
Now, with his son Mason plying his trade in American College Football for the Cincinnati Bearcats - something Dustin says makes him prouder than anything he accomplished on field - Fletcher told The Herald Sun that despite a tryout for American-style punting, he stuck with Essendon for the security.
“I had a couple of kicks, the boys were really young then and it was going to be a big move and I think Essendon then offered me a two-year deal so it was a bit of a no-brainer in the end,” he said.
“It‘s funny looking back at what Mason is doing and what a few of the others have done (in the NFL), it probably would have been worth a bit of a go but that’s the way it pans out.”
Dustin's other son Max will also head to the US next year, with Essendon originally interested in Mason under the same father-son rule, however, injuries in his draft year saw interest slow down.