As a college long snapper I love this! A couple of fun facts: At the college and pro level the snap has to get back to the punter in at least 0.75 seconds,If not the kick has a higher chance of being blocked.And on field goals they need to snap the ball with the same amount of rotations each time so the laces are facing away from the kicker.
Thanks for this comment. It gives me greater insight. I was thinking more of accuracy via angle and distance but velocity never crossed my mind. It's almost a form a pitching, like in baseball or cricket.
@@robertjack4329 actually angle and distance is different as well!Ive worked with a lot of punters throughout my career and most of them like the ball at their hip/waist area (there are guys who like it a little higher or lower).Whereas qbs usually like the ball at their numbers. I may be wrong because I’m not a center though.field goals usually want to be a couple inches above the holders knee
He couldn't have been more casual either, his body language said that was a designed play the whole time but the actual play was absolutely not that at all lol
George Allen, Redskins coach from 1971-1977, brought in George Burman as the long snapper as seen in the video against the LA Rams. Four years before this, Allen was head coach for the Rams and hired the first special teams coach in NFL history, a young kid named Dick Vermeil. By the time Allen was facing his old team in 1971, Vermeil was the Rams QB coach and Marv Levy replaced him for one year, but was now on the Washington side for the next two years, including Super Bowl VII. Ten years later HC Marv Levy, at KC, drafted the LS Todd Thomas that was mentioned here. But now for the really interesting part. On the Monday Night Football 12/13/71, shown in the clips between the Redskins and the Rams, which Washington won 38-24, there were THREE future KC Chiefs on the field that night. Rams QB coach Vermeil, Redskins ST coach Marv Levy, and participating in the halftime Punt, Pass, and Kick competition was a 13 yr old Andy Reid, who was so much larger than the other kids, it appears he swallowed a nine year old just to warmup.
Cameron Cheeseman, drafted in '21 in the sixth round by Washington, is out of the league. Something about changing his hand position caused him to struggle to get the ball to the holder Tress Way.
That's on personnel genius Ron Rivera. Traded up to draft a long snapper who didn't last one season. And every one of Rivera's first round picks has been a bust (though I still have hope for Jahan Dotson).
The way I coach children to do it is not one I invented, but still few children's coaches know: First a few reps passing a spiral overhand, then when they get the feel of that, turn around and do it between their legs.
I watched my friends grandkids play football last year. They didn't even do special teams they just started the ball on the twenty yard line to be safe. When I was in HS I played special teams for varsity all four years and had a 300 pound guy land of my head my freshman year and bent my facemask.
I know it’s a hard metric too evaluate, but there should be at least one long snapper in the Hall of Fame maybe the guy with the longest career or the least amount of turnovers maybe
The FB used to just be one of two true running backs. They regularly carroed the football. Jim Brown and other famous runners of the football were technically Full Backs. Back in the day, you saw a lot more Near, Far, and Split Bacls formations where either the HB or FB would take the handoff and the other might be asked to lead block or act as a decoy to draw the attention of a LB. This is also why Fake FB Dive HB pitch was far more effective. Marcus Allen obviously played HB, but also FB while Bo Jackson was the HB in formation for the Riaders. 49ers Roger Craig is a famous HB, but he began as a FB and won Suoer Bowl 19 as a FB. The stereotype of the lead blockong Full Back is more of an exception and a myth than the truth of the position. Whike the likes of Lorenzo Neal were amazing blockers... even Neal began as a rookie for the Saints as a HB if I recall. Mike Alstott was the last tue running FB that we think of. The 49ers Kyle "Juice" Juszczyk is a great lead blocker, but is used as an "offensive weapon" who is asked to run routes in the passing game more often than stay in to pass block. He doesn't carry the ball much, and he played Tight End in college. The FB is my favorite position in football. When you get a well rounded football player, stick him at FB. Maybe him block, hand him the rock, and throw him the ball. Let him do it all.
31 NFL fan bases: I hate how the Chiefs are always mentioned in every video now. Oh, cool. Longsnapper. This should be.... The team that first drafted a punter.... The team that first drafted a longsnapper.... GAAAAAAWDAAAAAAAMNIIIIIIT ....
I was a long snapper in HS after an ACL tear and absolutely loved it. Got interest from a few FBS, FCS, D2 and NAIA schools and even committed to one as a preferred walk on but tore my ACL again in my 3rd to last game of HS and that was the end for me. Still miss playing and snapping
Chiefs have been pioneers in special teams historically. I think we'll see some eye-popping changes this year from then. Signing Rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit, signing the Punt God, Likelihood of Their safety, Reed becoming a kickoff specialist. Don't be surprised if you see 85 yard punts, laterals on a regular basis, and a safety kicking off at the beginning of the game.
great piece isaac! What's also worth a listen to for anyone who hasn't heard it is bill Belichick's press conference where he gives a 10 minute answer discussing how long snappers came to take a roster spot on every NFL team
I can remember when they changed the college rules regarding how a defense could line up against a long snapper. They are in a mostly defenseless position and some of them were being seriously injured (head and neck) when defenders would hit them before they came out of their stance. I think that is why many of them are more likely to be one of the first players downfield on punt coverage as defenses can no longer line up right over them.
I knew a guy in college (at BGSU) who always made signs praising our long snapper and disparaging the opposing teams’ snapper. They’d do research before each home game
Exactly. When NFL teams had 35 man rosters the kicker, punter, long snapper were "other duties as required". As rosters expanded teams learned (sometimes slowly) that a special teams specialist could win games.
Ok Isaac, I have a great story for you!!! Now I hate the Chiefs but I'm a diehard Oklahoma Sooners fan so here's the story. Mike Winchester former Oklahoma Sooners punters son James Winchester is the KC long snapper. There's a very sad story with that but
@@LordBarros I don't think you get it dude. If talking about the Commanders you would call them the commanders...however this video is talking about a time before the commanders existed therefore calling them the Redskins is the correct way. Same as the Titans/Oilers..it all depends on what time period we're talking about.
I’m a college long snapper.There are a couple of differences.1. as a long snapper there is really only one way to hold the ball.You hold the ball with your dominant hand as if you were going to throw a regular overhead pass,than with your non dominant hand you place it on the middle of the ball with the middle finger on the seam.Also as a long snapper you use your legs.Im not a center but I know there are a couple of different ways to hold the ball.If you skip towards the end of the video you will see most of these guys sliding backwards and locking their legs out to get more power.Centers usually don’t do this because they have to stay low
I would say that a position that blended into the already existing game is the closer in baseball. Pitchers used to finish games all on their own, win or lose. Now, closers have been integral to the game for about 50 years.
Even more specialized in baseball was the Lefty One Out Guy. A pitcher called on to get only one out in a crucial moment, or against a specific batter. But baseball rules are lame and they eliminated this role. Maybe an enforcer in hockey would be similar to this specialty. Or some strikers in soccer.
Fun fact the Texans player with the most wins as a Texans is Jon Weeks our LS and he signed a one year deal with us again so we have had/will have him for 15 years
I was listening to this but not watching but when he said "when was the last bad snap you saw" I had to watch and rewind and I KNEW it was gonna be my Cards screwing it up.
Years ago in its heyday - late 60s?? - Mad magazine did a parody on the growth of specialists in the NFL. The article went on in typical Mad style about a place kick holder for tries over 20 yds and a holder for place kicks under 20 yds AND ANOTHER SPECIALIST FOR A 20 YD KICK.
It is funny, but in Washington, the long snapper is popular among the fans. Trevor Matich, Ethan Albright "The Red Snapper", Nick Sundberg. Course, that covers about 25 years of football.
There’s a lot of good historical material in this video. But in the sequence you identify as from a 1930s Northwestern game, from 2:30 to 2:57, you conclude that the long snapper was likely a “skill-position” player, because he wore no. 36, and “the numbers 1 through 50 were meant to be for backfield players.” I have some doubts about that assessment. First, I’m not sure the player you highlight, white no. 36, was actually the snapper; the image is pretty fuzzy, and I think 36 might have been one of the guards on either side of the snapper. But even if 36 was the long snapper in that sequence, I think the association of that number with any particular player position may be an anachronism. All my research indicates that the development of NCAA and NFL rules standardizing jersey numbers for various positions did not happen until after the early 1950s. While the use of jersey numbers in college football was first introduced in 1905, a lot of schools had still not adopted the practice well into the 1920s. (Indeed, the placement of numbers on both the front and back of the uniform jersey did not become mandatory until 1937.) And while some teams may have begun a practice of associating certain uniform-number ranges with particular positions, a lot of teams simply issued uniforms with sequential numbers starting at 1, and passed them out till all the players were outfitted. In that era rosters even at major colleges tended to be much smaller than they are today (and a lot of players went both ways, staying in the game on both offense and defense), so at many schools the team did not need to issue any jersey number beyond 50. Can you cite any specific source stating when college football started to require that particular positions wear only the numbers in restricted ranges? Or do you have some source, at least, stating that Northwestern adopted such a practice earlier - and if so, when?
The Vikings Pro Bowl LS Andrew DePaola was a State Champion 2,000 passing-yard QB in high school and as one of his coaches I am embarrassed to say, that we never had him snap a ball in a game although he did snap some in practice.
0:32 THANK YOU for including the clip of the nfl's best long snapper currently (ross matiscik) b/c he is the GOTE (greatest of their era) (PS i was ready to type an angy comment but was pleasantly surprised so he earns my sub for doing great research 👍)
Untill I started watching Alabama kick but , I thought the center just hiked it a long ways. I still would take the place kickers job, you dont get hit and dont worry bout being in good shape.
I remember some guy back in the eighties who was working as a fireman and was out of football, but was picked up as a long snapper by some team in the playoffs, and made more money in a couple of games than he did in a year in his regular job. Does anyone remember this?
My son was a long snapper in highschool as well as left tackle, made all-state partly for his long snaps, also played div 2 until an injury ended his career
Special teams fan here, but never a player. I'd love to know more about what LSs do following the snap. Most of them seem a bit more maneuverable than centers. I see them block, I see them cover, I see them drop like a sack of potatoes to just... be an obstacle.
I don't know about the NFL but in college the long snapper is often a tight end or other fast player. They are usually not the size of your typical offensive lineman. I think some teams may use a center for place kicks but they are not likely to for punts.
The term “flanker” is sometimes applied to a wide receiver - technically, and end - but more commonly a flanker is not a lineman, but formally is a back, who is set out in a wide position, usually outside the tackle but inside the end/wide receiver, and. who primarily functions not as a running-play ball carrier, but as a receiver.
The long snapper is so important and been noticed throughout my whole life watching the Steelers. One year Harry Newsome had 6 punts blocked since the Steelers did have someone doing this. The Steelers did not have one until Bill Cowher came along and drafted Kendall Gammon in 1992. Christian Kuntz, the Steelers current long snapper first came to Steelers as an OLB. Even recording a sack in a preseason game. But realized to have a career in the NFL it had to be long snapper. Also 2 of the most nasty players in Steelers history were both thrusted into long snapping duties, that being Greg Lloyd and James Harrison which led to disaster!
