Former XFL San Antonio Brahmas Punter Brad Wing (XFL)
Most of those who played in the XFL in 2023 fell into one of two categories: Either they were a young player looking to get the attention of NFL scouts; or they had recently been in the NFL, maybe even suited up in a few regular season games, but had been pushed out by the next batch of rookies entering the league.
Then there’s Brad Wing.
Wing’s unique journey to the XFL is a story all its own. The fact that he was able to parlay his 2023 season into another shot in the NFL this weekend – six years after taking his last snap in the big leagues – makes the story even more unique.
Originally from Australia, Wing came to America as an exchange student in high school. He played Australian Rules Football growing up, making the transition to punter in high school more natural. Wing ended up being recruited by Louisiana State University, where he attended college.
Though he was on the radar of NFL scouts in the spring of 2013, he went undrafted, signing with the Philadelphia Eagles for training camp. While he didn’t make the team, he impressed enough to get signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers to punt for them in 2014. After the season, he was traded to the New York Giants where he punted in all 16 regular season games for three years. In March of 2018, he was released by the Giants, which is where his NFL story seemed to come to a close.
A year later, Wing found himself kicking for the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football. He played in the first three games before being released. If Wing’s intention was to find his way back to the NFL, getting released by an AAF team midway into the season had to be close to rock bottom.
If it wasn’t rock bottom, 2020 may have been, at least professionally. Wing was a part of the XFL 2020 draft pool, but was not selected nor invited to camp. Another slight for Wing, who at each one of these stops was also growing a year older, a year more removed from the NFL, and it was another year in which more college punters would enter the NFL, making it less and less likely Wing would ever reappear in that league.
According to a story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it was an Instagram ad for Nick Novak’s XFL specialists Combine that motivated Wing to give football another shot. Wing was drafted by the San Antonio Brahmas, whose coaching staff runs deep with former Steelers including Head Coach Hines Ward and Linebackers Coach Joey Porter (who was a defensive assistant with the Steelers in 2014 when Wing punted there).
Wing led the XFL with a 47.9 gross punting average and also booted the league’s longest kick of the year at 72 yards. He was voted to the XFL Board All-XFL team at the conclusion of the season. As he didn’t receive any NFL interest during the summer, Wing seemed set to return to San Antonio for 2024. Then, Wing was called upon a few weeks ago to try out with the Steelers. As a lefty punter, he was brought in to acclimate the team’s punt returner to the left-footed punter they’d see that weekend.
But when the team’s regular punter, Pressley Harvin, went down with a hamstring injury the following week, Wing was brought in again with a host of other punters to try out as his replacement. Wing won the job and was signed this week to kick on Sunday.
Making Wing’s return all the more special is the obstacles he has had to overcome to get here. Wing was suspended once in college for failing a drug test. Those issues reared their ugly head again in the pros, which is what led to his release from the Giants, ending his NFL career at the time. “I lost my job in the NFL because of mental illness…the stigma is real…” he tweeted back in 2020. During training camp with the XFL, Ward had Wing tell his story to his teammates, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house by the end of it. He’s been sober since 2021.
Wing was able to resume his football career after licking the addiction. Upon his recent signing with Pittsburgh, his battery-mate in San Antonio, kicker John Parker Romo, tweeted his congratulations. “He was in a dark place & turned his life around…” wrote Romo, also suggesting Wing should be up for Comeback Player of the Year honors.
The opportunity on Sunday will likely only be for one game. Once Harvin gets healthy, Wing’s services will no longer be needed in the Steel City. What it does, though, is get Wing back in the conversation among NFL scouts and decision makers, who are constantly keeping updated their emergency lists at every position. An impressive performance can return Wing to the NFL tryout circuit as he tries to regain a full-time job at 32 years old. And if that doesn’t work, Ward will welcome him back in San Antonio next year.
Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson often talked about the “X” in the XFL standing for “where dreams meet opportunity.” At his lowest point, it’s unlikely Brad Wing ever realistically thought the opportunity would come to make it back to the NFL. Because of his commitment to breaking the cycle of addiction, and because of the opportunity afforded by the XFL, Wing was able to do just that. Six years after his last NFL snap – and nine years since last playing for the Steelers franchise – Wing will punt at the highest level of football once again. XFL ownership should be proud of each and every player that advances to the NFL from their league, but that pride should run a little bit deeper when it comes to Wing.
