When I was told that I could talk about the blogs I have been following for a class, I was pretty excited! I know that I am probably the first person in the history of this class to be talking about long snapping. So hopefully you will learn a thing or two!
This is a great site for me to stay educated about my line of work that I do on the football team and about the special position in general. I am assuming that some of you who read this post have no idea what long snapping truly is. And during this blog post I will give you a little insight into what it is and my thoughts. So if you think that long snapping is a boring subject or just not flashy enough for you I apologize and suggest that you google something like "quarterback blogs" on google :) Below is a clip of Nick Sundberg who gives some technique about how to snap a football. He is the former snaper for the University of California football team and current long snapper for the Washington Redskins in the NFL.
Long snapping over the years has come a long ways. It used to be that the normal "center" would also be the longsnapper and would snap the ball to the punter on 4th down. But now, teams make a couple roster spots for longsnappers. Over the years games have been won and lost solely because of a snap. It is a position that requires a lot of time and effort. To be a quality long snapper you have to be very picky about what you do. Even over the years long snapping has evolved more than many realize. People who have mastered the skill have enjoyed using their free time create long snapping trick shot videos and posting them on Youtube.
So as you can see, long snapping has become "kinda cool." Well, at least to me these video are kinda neat! This video is living proof that if you give somebody a camera and a football, just about anything is possible! Maybe a new school project?? I'm not sure, I will have to look into that one. As I come to a close, I challenge any of you who read this to it's completion to go out and try to snap a football and have some fun!
Another great long snapping site that offers instruction and tips for all levels of snappers:
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John,
ReplyDeleteI know what long snapping is because I LOVE football! One of my friends knew the long snapper from the U of I and now I know the UNI long snapper ;-)! I think a lot of people think long snapping is "simple" but it really isn't because like you said a whole game could come down to the snap. If the snap is not right then the kicker could kick the ball out of the goal and you could lose the game, and that would be very disappointing because who wants to lose? I think it is awesome that you have such a passion and want to share it with everyone! I enjoyed watching the videos and learning even more!
-Austin Jacobson
Hey John,
ReplyDeleteIt has always been my experience in classes such as the one we are taking to subscribe to blogs that will teach us new strategies and methods to use as teachers. That's all well and good, but subscribing to blogs such as the long snapping one you discussed doesn't seem to be a bad idea either. We can't just focus on education 24/7. We need to have time to ourselves and read things that interest us in a personal level. If we didn't take time for ourselves then we would be burned out before we know it.
Megan