Longsnap.com

Although this blog seeks to illuminate the anonymous role of the long snapper, there are other key components in the kicking game.  Like snapping, another role often taken for granted is the holder.  In the case of the Colts and snapper Justin Snow, there is an adjustment in the form of a new holder this season.  The Colts drafted punter Pat McAfee this year and he will replace Hunter Smith as holder.   A story in today’s Indianapolis Star by Mike Chappell, linked below, discusses the role of the holder and its importance to the Colts’ kicking game.

Holder Article

With the pre-season schedule just beginning, some teams have had to adjust their snappers.  Bears veteran Pat Mannelly has been sidelined with a minor hip injury and, as a precautionary move, the Bears signed J.J. Milan to fill-in.  Milan has prior camp experience with the Colts and Raiders.  The Chiefs, who have made a number of moves at the snapping position in just the last few months, reversed a recent transaction and brought back Thomas Gafford.  Gafford had been waived recently, leaving Tanner Purdum as the only snapper on the roster, but the Chiefs let go of Purdum yesterday and brought Gafford back.

The Panthers have waived rookie snapper Nick Sundberg, making JJ Jansen the snapper for this season.  Sundberg was rookie from California and had been expected to compete with Jansen, who was acquired in a trade with the Packers in the off-season.

Patriots’ Sixth Round pick, snapper Jake Ingram, reached an agreement on a four-year contract last week and is now in camp and competiting with veteran Nate Hodel for the snapping job.  The NFL Long Snappers chart has been updated with the latest snapping moves.

“In his first book since his New York Times bestseller Season of Life, Pulitzer Prize winner Jeffrey Marx tells the remarkable and true story of one man’s odyssey from seventh-grade Bible teacher to Super Bowl champion.”

Former Saints snapper Kevin Houser has signed with the Seahawks after client Bryan Pittman’s recent non-football related injury.  Pittman, who recently signed with the Seahawks in the off-season, is expected to be fully recovered in approximately four weeks.

In a move that occured in the beginning of July without much publicity, the Seahawks waived Ryan Senser, leaving client Bryan Pittman as the sole long snapper on the Seattle roster.  With Senser gone, there are just five teams (Falcons, Bills, Panthers, Jaguars and Patriots) with snapping competition as training camp approaches.  The NFL Long Snappers chart has been updated to reflect this latest move.

I have often said that every long snapper in the NFL, and to some extent even in college, has an interesting story about how they became a successful snapper.  Recently, there is another inspiring story of a long shot player making it at the highest level of football.  Tanner Purdum is the likely snapper for the Chiefs this year and, as mentioned in a prior post, he has taken an unconventional route to the NFL.

Purdum graduated from Baker University in 2007 and spent time as a snapper and quarterback.  A bit light coming our of college, he started to add weight and spent a season at Avila University as a graduate assistant, before returning to Baker as a graduate assistant in 2008.  During this time, Purdum kept working hard and training to snap in the NFL.  Last year, he had workouts with the Packers and Seahawks and attended pro free agent combines run by former NFL kicker Louis Aguilar.

He also sent out 128 homemade DVDs to multiple staff members at each NFL team and one such DVD got the attention of the Kansas City Chiefs.  After a workout with the Chiefs, Purdum was signed shortly thereafter and, with Thomas Gafford waived, Purdum is the lone snapper in camp.  I recently spoke with Purdum about his remarkable story and how it demonstrates that hard work and dedication can help in achieveing your goals regardless of where you come from.  Any snapper looking to play in high school, college or the pros can learn from Tanner’s story of perserverance.

There is yet another sign that snappers are getting recognition for the role they play in football.  For the first time, Playboy Magazine has added a long snapper to its preseason All-America team.  UCLA junior Christian Yount is the first snapper to make the squad.  Yount has handled all of the snaps for the Bruins over the past two seasons.

Playboy’s Gary Cole noted that the snapper position is an “unsung hero” role and that Yount was selected based on input from pro scouts and snapping training schools.

With only 32 snapping jobs in the NFL and many held by veterans each year, securing a position snapping in the NFL is one of the most difficult things to do in professional sports.  As mentioned in prior posts, the 80 man training camp roster adds to this difficulty, with many teams unable to carry an extra snapper into camp for development purposes.  Other factors may also contribute to this problem as well.

For example, former NFL special teams coach Gary Zauner has developed an excellent training program for NFL kickers, punters and snappers.  In a recent post on his blog, linked below, Coach Zauner writes about his work with Clint Mower of Utah, who was a top snapping prospect for this year’s Draft.  Mower, like many of the top college snappers, has not gotten a chance with an NFL team.  In his post, Zauner notes that some snappers, including Mower, may be unfairly downgraded by pro scouts because they are not required to block, but must simply snap and cover.  Almost all NFL teams want their snapper to be able to block and protect and the failure to develop these skills in college may harm some snapping prospects with professional aspirations.

http://coachzauner.blogspot.com/2009/06/utahs-clinton-mower-snapping-lessons.html