Long Snapper

In American football and Canadian football, the term long snapper refers to a center whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point attempts.

During field goals and point after touchdown, the snap is received by the holder typically 7–8 yards away. During punt plays the snap is delivered to the punter from 13–15 yards away. Following a punt snap the snapper often executes a blocking assignment and then must cover the kick by running downfield and attempting to stop the opposing team's punt returner from advancing the ball in the opposite direction. If the punt goes uncaught it is the snapper's responsibility to make sure the ball does not enter the endzone or bounce backward resulting in loss of yards. The majority of snappers at the highest levels of competition are specialized, meaning that they uniquely play the position of snapper, or have limited responsibilities elsewhere.

A good punt snap should hit the target (namely the punter's hands at the abdomen or waistline) between .65 to .80 seconds and with a tight spiral for easy handling. A "bad snap" is an off-target snap which causes the delay or failure of a kick and/or forces the punter into a potentially compromising situation.

College rules are such that any of the 11 players on the punting team are allowed to proceed downfield at any time once the play has begun (unlike the NFL where only 2 players, the left and right gunner, are allowed to pass the line of scrimmage before the ball has been kicked). This results in many teams employing a "spread punt" or "rugby-style" scheme designed to maximize downfield coverage and limit returners from making larger gains the other way after receiving the ball.

Before specialization, the long snapper was often a player who primarily played another position, mostly assumed to be backup centers because they perform snap duties to quarterbacks, and further out in a shotgun formation anyway, but a recent example would be Allen Aldridge, who started at linebacker for the Detroit Lions and also served as the team's long snapper. This allowed the team to dress another non-specialist player. Now, every team in the NFL has a specialized long snapper. Long snappers are usually amongst the least known players in the NFL, because of their highly specialized and relatively invisible role on the field. They are also in general not drafted and normally are acquired as undrafted free agents, with a few exceptions:

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