God bless the long snapper

J's World, by Jeremiah Bartz

As kids are out on the playground playing sandlot football and emulating their idols, you hear them talk about how they want to be Brett Favre, Jerry Rice or Marshall Faulk. They never want to be Aaron Graham, Ron Stone or Patrick Mannelly.

Yes, nobody ever wants to be the long snapper.

You see hundreds of people with Eddie George jerseys, but when was the last time you saw a person wearing a David Diaz-Infante jersey?

The long snapper is the ultimate unsung hero of sports. Day in and day out they go to the field and do their job, and their work is most often unrecognized.

The fact of the matter is, without the long snapper the game of football would be drastically different and could possibly even cease to exist.

Well, at least the special teams part of the game would cease to exist.

After a game winning field goal, everyone surrounds themselves around the little guy with the clean jersey, otherwise known as the kicker. They pat the little guy on the helmet and give him a high-five or two.

If it is an important game, the players might lift him on their shoulders.

But, everyone forgets about who set up that play -- the long snapper. When was the last time a team carried the long snapper off the field on their shoulders?

There are many other positions which could be eliminated without seriously harming the game of football. You could go with out a wide receiver, a strong safety or a tight end. You could even play the game without the quarterback.

How do you play with out the quarterback, you ask?

Just run the ball -- its that simple. Notre Dame and Nebraska have been incredibly successful for decades without even thinking of throwing the football. The same thing can be said for some teams right here in Alaska. If you get rid of the quarterback, all you have to do is snap the ball directly to the running back.

But in order to do that, you would still need the long snapper.

It takes great skill and athletic ability to be a successful long snapper. Some people are convinced that it takes the most skill to be a quarterback. I think not.

Throwing the ball -- that's easy! Try snapping the ball 13 yards between your legs while trying to avoid getting smacked by a defensive lineman who's sole purpose in life is to remove you from your helmet. Now that is talent!

The pressure on a long snapper is very demanding. I will tell you from personal experience that there is nothing worse than watching the punter chase down a ball that you just launched 30 yards above his head.

At that point, your best option is to just head for the locker room. Give your coach time to forget that you just set up first and goal for the other team.

In order to prevent those uncomfortable situations during the game, coaches often put game-like pressure on the long snappers during practice. There were actual drills. If I remember right, during my glory days of high school the drill was called "Kill Bartz".

One of my former coaches, Nathan Ford, particularly liked this drill. Frankly, his love of this drill really worried me. He would line up about 13 guys right across from me. This was supposed to simulate a game-like situation. I felt more like Custer in the Battle of Little Big Horn, than anything else.

A friend and teammate, Ian Kenny, would always be in the drill, and he usually took it upon himself to try to decapitate me. Unfortunately for me, Ian did not understand that there was something less than maximum speed, and he usually tried to launch himself as if he were shot from a cannon pointed directly at me.

I tell you, if I could bottle the adrenaline running through Ian's veins, I could sell it on the black market as a drug more potent than any form of methanphetimine available in a rural Alaskan trailer court.

I am happy to say that I still have my head in tact, so Ian never quite decapitated me. He did knock me senseless a couple times.

Another teammate, appropriately named "Big John", had a simple role in the drill of "Kill Bartz". He would just fall on me. Believe me, this could do more damage than any punishment that the flying Ian Kenny could dish out. John was the size of most full grown cattle. He could have either been a lineman for the Texas Longhorns, or the mascot. I think Warren Sapp would have looked like "Mini Me" standing next to John.

There are still divots -- or craters rather -- in the practice field of my beloved alma matter where John fell during practice. Unfortunately if you look closely in one of the giant trenches, you can see an outline of my jersey number in the dirt where John fell on top of me during a nice game of "Kill Bartz".

He crushed me so I hard and basically swallowed my mouthpiece.

If you didn't already know, it is pretty tough to receive the Heimlich maneuver when you are wearing shoulder pads.

After that wrath of pain, I had more bruises than O.J. Simpson's last girlfriend.

The Alaska School Activities Association has finally decided to reward the long snappers. About eight years to late, if I might add.

This is a trend I want to see continue though. Next time there is a close race for a team MVP or Hiesman Trophy, just give it to the long snapper.

My advice to coaches is to appreciate their long snapper. If their team is terrible and they punt a lot, the long snapper could be a coach's best friend.

God bless the long

snapper.