Not too long ago, Joe Couch was someone to contact if you needed an insurance policy.
Now he is an insurance policy.
The amiable Australian, who celebrates his 30th birthday today, has spent the 2024 season on the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ practice roster.
In the event of an injury to Adam Korsak — a fellow Aussie and one of the CFL’s premier punters — Couch would be the next man up.
On the surface, his job does not appear to be especially glamorous, but he loves every second of it.
“I’ve worked really hard for this and I’ve sacrificed a lot,” he says. “I could have stayed in Australia and continued what I was doing and I’d be in a great financial position.
“But it’s one of those things where you take the chance, because you never know what could happen. If you don’t, you might look back and say, ‘I could have done that.’
“I remember running out for the first pre-season game against Winnipeg. That was a special moment for me, because it was kind of like everything was coming to fruition.
“It’s not like you’ve made it, but you still think, ‘Wow … this is actually amazing.’ A lot of the time, I wouldn’t have thought that I’d get to a spot like this.”
Like Korsak, Couch explored football options on a different continent after training with Prokick Australia, which has been a launching pad for athletes from Down Under who aspire to become punters or placement specialists in the NFL or CFL.
Once an Australian rules football player for Geelong College in his homeland, he was introduced to the North American game at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark.
Over three seasons of college football (2021 to 2023), he averaged 44.7 yards per punt and earned various accolades, such as Second-Team NCAA Division II All-American honours in 2022.
He signed with the Roughriders on May 6, just before training camp opened in Saskatoon, to continue his pursuit of a career in pro football.
“I was working the corporate life and I was super-tired,” he recalls.
“I was working in insurance broking and I was typically working on the biggest accounts for our firm. Commercial-insurance wise, I was just helping there.
“There was a period when I could have moved to another town and started off well and just continued to grow and grow, because I was growing quite quick.
“It’s funny. You talk about insurance broking and it’s like, ‘Ahh, it’s not very exciting,’ but when you’re a half-social but extroverted guy like me, you like getting out and about. I really enjoy that side of work.
“But it’s one of those things where you’re like, ‘Hey, I could be earning X amount, but am I happy?’ I felt like I was going to be my happiest if I decided to chase my dreams and see what happens.”
And now, well, there is the prospect of Couch being chased by offensive linemen — who have threatened at times to dump him in a Mosaic Stadium cold tub.
How does a nice guy like Couch incur anyone’s wrath? The question had to be asked.
“Me and our O-line line, we have a little beef happening now,” he confides. “I mooed at one of them. Typically, if you moo at them, you get thrown in the cold water.
“We’ve got a little truce happening. I apologized.”
The cold-tub Cold War is on hold … maybe.
Remember that the O-linemen recently deposited 6-foot-6, 285-pound defensive lineman Anthony Lanier II in the cold tub.
His indiscretion: Mooing at the offensive linemen, a la Couch.
If someone of Lanier’s size proves to be portable, it shouldn’t be too difficult for the O-linemen, if suitably rankled, to lift and submerge the 5-foot-11, 210-pound Couch.
“Well,” he replies, “this is what I said to them: ‘Who’s going to catch me?’
“I see their side of the room as like lava. So I stepped into the lava and I hand-shook one of them and he wouldn’t let go. I thought, ‘I’m in trouble.’
“I talked my way out of it. I said, ‘We all make mistakes. I don’t remember saying it, but if you guys say I said it …’
“They’re great guys. We have a great relationship. I said, ‘I won’t do it again.’ Thankfully, Logan Ferland had my back just this once and gave me a warning.
“So, yeah, we’re good.”
Really? Are you sure they can be trusted?
“I don’t trust them, no,” Couch concedes, “so every time I walk by them, I make sure I’ve got nothing of significance on.
“My boots are off … everything. I’m always looking up and taking my boots off.”
That, in addition to booting footballs at practice, is the nuts and bolts of Couch’s wouldn’t-trade-it-for-anything existence as a Roughrider.
“You love having him around,” Head Coach Corey Mace says. “His personality is infectious, for sure. We’ve got a bunch of guys like that, but he’s just an excellent guy and a heck of a punter.
“Obviously, with our situation with Adam, he’s an incredible punter. But the times when we’ve asked Joe to get out there, he’s booming them with crazy hang time.
“He’s more than capable of getting the job done. We’re lucky to have him. He’s selfless in doing everything he can to help this team win.”
Paul Couch, Joe’s father, played a key role in many Australian Football League victories while starring for the Geelong Cats.
During a period that spanned 1985 to 1997, the elder Couch — who was named the AFL’s fairest and best player in 1989 — played in 259 games for the Cats and helped them reach four Grand Finals.
“He was a fantastic player,” a proud son remembers. “My brother played professionally, too. For me, growing up, I was never able to reach that professional athlete lifestyle in the AFL. It kind of hurt me a bit for a number of years.
“It takes you a while to kind of realize why you didn’t make it and to try and turn that around. I thought, ‘I still want to reach the highest level professionally,’ so I was really passionate and always grinding, day to day, to get to this point.”
Despite being more than 14,000 kilometres removed from his homeland, his family is never far from his thoughts.
There are twinges of sadness that don’t relate to distance or separation.
Paul Couch was only 51 years old when he died suddenly while cycling on March 5, 2016.
“When you lose a parent, the first couple of years after they pass, you want to text them,” Couch says. “Something pops up in your mind and he would be the person you would go to.
“Over the last eight years, I’ve had a number of people come into my life who have kind of fostered the type of relationship that I would have had with my old man.
“Mom (Geraldine) has been brilliant the whole time. She has been my biggest supporter. From Coach (Todd) Knight at Ouachita to friends of mine who have dealt with similar situations, so many people have helped me along the way.
“I had to step in and take some responsibility. I had to grow up as well, but it’s always good to have somebody you can lean on — like my uncle Billy, who’s my dad’s brother.”
A new external family, consisting of Couch’s teammates with the Roughriders, has also been welcoming and supportive.
It doesn’t hurt to have another Aussie on the roster, either.
“I’m grateful to have Adam here,” Couch says. “He’s a great guy. We all want to be Adam. He’s handsome and he’s good at punting and he can golf.
“I can golf on PlayStation. I’ll say to Adam, ‘Look, I got a birdie!’ ”
Couch can also enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the Roughriders’ offensive and defensive units when game action is simulated during practice.
When down-and-distance drills are being conducted, he is happy to hold one of the yardsticks.
“Sometimes the guys will give me a rough time for holding the sticks or whatever,” Couch says.
“I’ll say, ‘Guys, I’ve only been doing this for four years. You’ve been playing your whole life and we’re at the same spot.’
“It’s about perspective. Guys talk about the importance of getting better. I’m getting better every day.
“I’d love to see where I am four years from now. Right now, I love being with the guys and I’ve made some great friends. The coaches are great, too … great guys.
“I feel like when you’re a little bit older — when you’re 29 and you’re a rookie — you can kind of relate a little bit more when you’ve had a past life as an insurance broker and in financial planning. You’ve done a bit of travel so you can talk a bit as well.
“It’s different than being 18 and then going to college in America for four years and then coming straight here. You’ve actually got a bit of life experience, which has helped me as well, because I’ve got different perspectives.”
Not to mention diplomatic skills that, so far, have enabled him to deftly avoid being immersed in a cold tub by a group of offensive linemen.
“I avoid them. They avoid me,” Couch says. “They’ve got meetings. They’ve got things they actually have to do.
“Us kickers, once practice is done, we eat. And then we take off.”
