A Long Snapper Forgotten

The NFL is one of the most demanding leagues in the world. You have to have talent to succeed. Every position is just as important as an other, but fans sometimes forget that. Every NFL fan out there knows the players on his favorite team, the quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, linebackers, offensive line, secondary, and defensive line.

Even the kickers and punters are known for winning a game or putting the other team in bad field position. But some forget about a major position, long snapper.

Most NFL players are known for there good play, not long snappers. If there name is talked about, they have made a mistake. Everyone thinks that a center can just play long snapper, but they are wrong. A center and a Long Snapper are completely different things.

A Long Snapper is used to deep snap the football to the punter on punts and to the holder on field goals, After they snap the ball they are jumped on by the opposing team. It's a hard job, but someone has to do it. They come out from the bench for that short time, but if we didn't have them, some games outcomes would be very different.

No one will value them, unless they are gone. An example of this is in a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants. The Pittsburgh Steelers punter comes on to punt the ball away. It will be snapped by the Steelers long snapper, Greg Warren. He snaps the ball perfect and the punter gets it away.

The play ends when the returner is down. But there is someone down on the field, number 60. No one knows who this guy is, until a true Steelers fan points it out.

Everyone starts to laugh, "A long snapper, who cares." The cart comes out and takes him away with a knee injury. The Steelers are ahead but get stopped on third down, the punter comes out for a routine punt, Mitch Berger. While the fans are groaning for the Steelers to have made the first down, Mike Tomlin has a decision to make.

No NFL team has a back up long snapper. Some guys on the team did in high school or collage, but that was long ago. No one practiced for this moment, James Harrison steps up and says he will snap it. They go out to punt, the snap is over Mitch Berger's head. Berger has a hamstring injury, so he can't get to the ball.

The ball bounce out of the end-zone  for a safety. The Giants later scored and won the game. That week James Harrison was bashed, but he stepped up and the all fans learned a lesson. The long snapper is just as important as the quarterback. Greg Warren was lost for the season, and its hard to find a good replacement. We have Jared Retfosksy, but its not the same. This injury could come back to haunt the Pittsburgh Steelers.