Rick Gosselin recently named his all-time NFL Special Teams Unit, which included three long snappers.  Gosselin, who has ranked each NFL teams special teams groups for 38 seasons, created a First Team, Second Team and some wild card spots to fill out a proposed 53-man roster of the best special teams players.

The First Team snapper was Steve DeOssie.  Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick has called him “one of the most impactful players in the punting game” for his ability to snap, block and cover.  DeOssie had 81 career tackles on special teams, including 20 in the 1998 season alone.

Patrick Mannelly was the Second Team snapper for his 16 seasons in Chicago and his ability to turn snapping into a science.  Dave Toub, one of Mannelly’s special teams coaches with the Bears, noted that Mannelly was the first to count rotations of the ball on short snaps to make sure the holder never got the laces.

Don Muhlbach, who is still playing after entering the NFL in 2004, was the wild card snapper for “his rocket snaps”.