39Matthew Hayball is an Australian professional American football punter from West Adelaide, South Australia. After developing through Prokick Australia, he moved to the United States and became a leading college punter at Florida Atlantic and Vanderbilt. He entered the NFL with the New Orleans Saints in 2024 and, as of August 18, 2026, is listed as an active punter for the Atlanta Falcons and the club’s International Player Pathway selection.
Matthew Hayball was raised in West Adelaide, South Australia, and attended Sacred Heart College. He developed as a specialist through Prokick Australia before moving to the United States to pursue American football. Hayball began his college career at Florida Atlantic, where he served as the Owls’ punter for three seasons from 2019 to 2021. He then transferred to Vanderbilt for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. At Vanderbilt, his directional control, hang time and distance developed into one of the strongest punting profiles in college football. He finished his Vanderbilt career as the school’s all-time leader in punting average at 46.5 yards per punt and was recognised as a second-team All-American by multiple major selectors in 2023. Hayball was also named a first-team All-SEC punter. Undrafted in 2024, he signed with the New Orleans Saints and appeared in 17 regular-season games, recording 75 punts. In June 2026, Atlanta signed him as its selection for the NFL International Player Pathway programme. The Falcons list him as an active punter, No. 39, with Vanderbilt as his college. His professional role is focused on field-position management, including distance, placement, limiting return opportunities and pinning opponents deep.
Hayball’s first major American-football breakthrough came at Florida Atlantic, where he won the starting punting role as a freshman in 2019 and ranked 33rd nationally with a 43.5-yard average. His largest college breakthrough followed at Vanderbilt in 2023, when he produced a 47.6-yard season average and earned multiple second-team All-American selections and first-team All-SEC recognition.
Verified highlights include a 46.5-yard career punting average at Vanderbilt; a 47.6-yard average in 2023, the second-best single-season mark in Vanderbilt history; 59 punts for 2,785 yards at Florida Atlantic in 2021; 59 punts for 2,634 yards at Vanderbilt in 2022; 57 punts for 2,713 yards at Vanderbilt in 2023; 75 NFL punts for 3,303 yards in 2024; second-team All-American honours in 2023 from Walter Camp, the Football Writers Association of America, The Associated Press, The Athletic and Phil Steele; and first-team All-SEC honours in 2023.
His defining college season was Vanderbilt’s 2023 campaign, when he averaged 47.6 yards per punt and became Vanderbilt’s first All-American since 2016 and first All-American punter since 1996. During the 2022 season, he also forced a fumble at Alabama and pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line 21 times.