Nathan Hodel: The Patriots' Ace In the Hole

It is a scene as memorable as the birth of your first born child. 

After Adam Vinatieri capped off the impossible, by putting a 23-yard field goal through the uprights in a blizzard, an unknown player with tattoos up his entire arm runs into the end zone where the ball now lays. 

The crowd was raucous, and the players were going equally insane. One man took in the serenity of the moment, laid in the snow, and stared at the sky.

As if in an omen to the only thing that could have allowed him to win this game, he waved his arms and legs, leaving an imprint of an angel on the snow covered turf. With the iconic image burned into everyone's mind, the unknown became an NFL Films poster boy.

The man was Lonnie Paxton, Patriots long snapper from 2000-2008. For those eight years, Paxton was responsible for accurately placing the snap into the hands of Ken Walter in Super Bowl XXXVI. 

He had to do the same thing in Houston two years later, and every game in between and after.

Head Coach Bill Belichick constantly referred to Paxton when asked who was the most integral part of his team. Vinatieri and Stephen Gostkowski praised him after every big kick they made. 

After following an assistant coach, a fixture of Belichick's special teams since arriving in New England is gone. Paxton signed early in free agency with the Josh McDaniels led Denver Broncos. 

Belichick knows how important the void left by Paxton is. Therefore, instead of leaving the job to an incumbent, Belichick wanted an experienced man to pitch it to the holder.

What better experience can you have then a man who counted for half the long snappers in last year's Super Bowl?

That's why, after he was released by the Arizona Cardinals, Belichick pulled the trigger on Nathan Hodel. 

Ace in the hole

The bio on Hodel is about as spectacular as a long snapper's can be. He graduated from Illinois, and spent six games on the Carolina Panthers' practice squad before being released.

He then signed with the Cardinals, and failed to see the field during his rookie season. After that, however, he handled the long snapper duties for Arizona for six consecutive seasons. 

He did not miss any of those 96 games, even after having injuring his ankle after snapping the a game-winning field goal against Atlanta in 2007. He is now known as one of the steadiest long snappers in the league. 

Now, after being responsible for three extra point attempts in last year's Super Bowl, he joins a team poised to make his extra point load heavy. 

He is an unknown, but if he continues his consistency, he may soon find himself immortal.