The long snappers were selected today for the Pro Bowl teams, as Matt Overton of the Colts will snap for the AFC, while JJ Jansen of the Panthers for the NFC squad. This is the first Pro Bowl appearance for each snapper
Jon Dorenbos of the Eagles was also honored as the snapper for the USA Football All-Fundamentals team that recognizes players with proper technique. Dorenbos will receive a $1,500 equipment grant to donate to a youth or high school football program of his choice.
One of the big steps in the NFL Draft process is college all-star games and some long snappers will have a chance to impress scouts this month. The Senior Bowl snappers are Marcus Heit (Kansas State) and Tyler Ott (Harvard), while Trevor Gillette (Rice) and Chris Maikranz (Lamar) will handle the snaps in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.
Heit will also handle the snaps in this weekend’s Medal of Honor bowl, along with Tanner Hedstrom (Colorado State). Another all-star game, the East-West Shrine Game, will not use dedicated snappers.
Although it is very rare for a snapper to change teams during veteran free agency, a handful have earned the right to obtain offers from other teams when free agency commences in March.
Five snappers are unrestricted free agents and can sign anywhere if not re-signed by their clubs. Patrick Mannelly (Bears), Don Muhlbach (Lions), Thomas Gafford (Chiefs), Greg Warren (Steelers) and Andrew Economos (Bucs) will all be unrestricted free agents for the 2014 season. Just one snapper, Danny Aiken (Patriots), is a restricted free agent. Restricted free agency means the Patriots can offer Aiken a one year deal that gives them the right to match any offers he may be given from another club.
A few teams have already signed snappers for next year to reserve/future contracts including Brandon Hartson (Bears), client Patrick Scales (Bucs) and Bryce Davis (Steelers). There may be another snapper or two added by clubs over the coming weeks.
Longsnap.com has been compiling tackles by long snappers in punt coverage since 2000, when the site was launched. Although not necessarily the best indicator of a snapper’s ability, the recording of tackles in one of the few objective statistics for a snapper.
The NFL Long Snappers page has been updated to include the punt tackle statistic leaders for each season from 2000 to the present and can be found here:
The NFL Regular Season concluded Sunday night and a snapper was involved in a controversial ending to a key game. The Chiefs were attempting a last second field goal against the Chargers that would have eliminated the Chargers from the playoffs. The field goal was missed and the Chargers eventually won in overtime. The NFL later admitted that an NFL rule was violated on the attempt, since the Chargers lined up seven men on one side of the snapper, Thomas Gafford, and not the six players that the rules now permit.
Heading into the final week of the season, kickers and punters continued to have outstanding seasons. Mark Gaughan of The Buffalo News called this the “golden era” of kicking and punting given the success rates of kickers at field goals, particularly those over 50 yards, and the strong net punting averages that punters have compiled. In addition to kickers and punters receiving better training, as well as being bigger and stronger athletes, Panthers assistant special teams coach Bruce DeHaven also credited the fact that the play of long snappers is better than in the past.
Zak DeOssie of the Giants finished tied at the top of the tackles list for snappers. On Sunday, DeOssie recorded two tackles, one of which was a solo tackle, to finish the season with a total of nine, seven of which were solo stops. DeOssie tied with Garrison Sanborn of the Bills, who ended with four solo and five assisted tackles. DeOssie was also the tackle leader in 2011 and 2012. Clint Gresham of the Seahawks added two solo tackles this week.
The NFL Long Snappers Chart for the 2013 NFL Regular Season is below.
Week Sixteen is complete and one week remains in what has been an exciting NFL regular season. With only next week left, Garrison Sanborn of the Bills leads all snappers with nine tackles in punt coverage, four of which are solo stops. Zak DeOssie of the Giants is second with seven tackles, six of which are solo tackles.
The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Sixteen is below.
Week Sixteen NFL Long Snappers Chart
One of the very few major football publications to cover long snapping is Phil Steele’s College Football Preview. In addition to covering snappers in his print magazine, he also takes the addition step of including long snappers to both his pre-season and Postseason All-American Team.
Scott Thompson of NC State secured the top spot on both lists this year. Second Team snapper is Trevor Gillette of Rice, with Reid Ferguson of LSU the Third Team snapper and Drew Howell of Oregon made the Fourth Team.
Tim McManus recently wrote an interesting story about Eagles snapper Jon Dorenbos in his Birds 24/7 column. Dorenbos, who is also an accomplished magician as shown here, admitted that he used another teammate’s snapping footage to get a scholarship.
Dorenbos was attending Golden West Junior College when he put together a highlight tape of his snapping and playing linebacker. Because he did not have a lot of snapping footage, he also used footage from a teammate who snapped and sent it to UTEP. The film helped get Dorenbos a full scholarship, where he snapped for three years and is now about to conclude his 11th season in the NFL. Dorenbos said he told UTEP about the tape during his junior year.
Week Fifteen was an active one for long snappers. John Denney of the Dolphins got the attention no snapper wants when his field goal snap was premature and hit his holder, Brandon Fields, in the facemask and prevented the kick. Clark Harris of the Bengals had a snap go wide in windy conditions in Pittsburgh that prevented a punt attempt. The Jets had a punt blocked by the Panthers due to a “technical” mistake in their punt blocking scheme, allowing a rush up the middle on snapper Tanner Purdum.
Cullen Loeffler of the Vikings, who was profiled in a nice feature story on TwinCities.com this week, left Sunday’s game briefly. Loeffler suffered a hand injury and missed one punt snap that was handled by Jared Allen. Loeffler was later able to return to the game.
Two snappers, Zak DeOssie (Giants) and client Brett Goode (Packers), recorded tackles this week, with DeOssie recording two solo stops and Goode one solo tackle.
The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Fifteen is below.
On Friday, three finalists were announced for the third annual 2013 Chris Rubio Award. The award will be presented at a cermenony in Las Vegas on January 17, 2014.
This year’s finalists are Tanner Carew (California, Class of 2014), Blake Ferguson (Georgia, Class of 2015) and Alan Lucy (Virginia, Class of 2014).
Prior winner’s are Scott Daly, who now snaps at Notre Dame, and last year’s winner Cole Mazza, who snaps for Alabama.
Longsnap.com 