Seattle Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka took time out from his relaxing New Zealand holiday to pay a visit to Warriors training yesterday.
The 2013 Super Bowl winner watched from the sidelines as the Warriors were put through their paces with some field drills, before trading tips in a one-on-one session with goal-kicking halfback Shaun Johnson.
Three years ago, Hauschka scored a game-high 11 points when the Seahawks trounced the Denver Broncos 43-8 in their breakthrough Super Bowl victory.
Despite the differences in each code and their respective footballs, he enjoyed the experience and said it gave him a new appreciation for the 13-man game.
"Our season finished up about a week and a half ago and my wife and I booked a last minute trip over here," explained Hauschka.
"This was one of the priorities, to get to speak with some of the kickers over here, and I wanted to come and visit practice.
"It was really interesting for me. It was really fun just to see another aspect of it culturally. It's an amazing game and something that most Americans don't know much about.
"It looks like a beautiful game with a lot of flow to it. It was nice to see football in a different way; it's mixed together with soccer and American Football. It's a unique sport."
After the session was finished, Johnson presented Hauschka with the 'Spirit of the Warrior' jersey the Warriors will wear at the Downer NRL Auckland Nines at Eden Park next weekend.
The 30-year-old is now looking to resuming his downtime and taking in a few more sights before returning home to the US.
"We've wanted to come for a while. We've heard amazing things from people all over the world," he said.
"We wanted to go down to Milford Sound and see Queenstown and we went to Waiheke Island. We're going to go to Hawke's Bay, so there's some great attractions here."