Long Snap

[oakleaf]

There's certainly two sides here! They get paid well for only two things: (1) Long snapping the ball a couple times a game; and (2) staying healthy a complete season. (There's no such thing as a backup long snapper, replacing an injured long snapper typically doesn't end well.)

Yet, it's an unheralded position that demands perfection. Unlike any other position in sports, a perfect long snapper remains invisible and great career long snappers are never remembered. But screw up once at the wrong time and you're remembered... in infamy. Trey Junkins did almost 20 years in obscurity (meaning he was a good LS). However, after being talked out of retirement for a final year, he is remembered for just one snap.

I'm assuming Goode's issue is concern about his ACL?

P.S. I was providing backup for what everyone else said.

 

[realitybytes]

P.S. I was providing backup for what everyone else said.

There's no such thing as a backup long snapper

believe it or not, there are five teams who currently have two long snappers under contract. i'm assuming that they will drop one by the end of training camp though.

if the packers decide to keep jordan tripp, they will sort of have a backup long snapper.

 

[TW]

Length of contract can be deceiving. A player can have a 4 year contract, but none of it guaranteed. This is usually the case with most LS in the NFL. Their contracts are team friendly, intent on "locking the guy in," if the team wants to keep him, and if they decide to dump him, he gets nothing. They'll often dump them if they feel the "automatic veteran increases" are more than they want to pay. When it happens, they renegotiate, after the cut, for the minimum vet figure, to keep the costs down.

It was never my intent to compare the guys doing the job to anyone outside the game. It was only intended to deal with the game itself. It would be like comparing McCarthy's income to that of a manager at a Taco Bell. A person can refer to it in terms of income received, or in any other way, but McCarthy's income would be comparative to others in his field when it comes to comparisons.

What's different with LS players, is that they rarely get a chance with a second team. Usually, when cut, it's all over.

The statement about Trey Jenkins being remembered for one snap is true. In the NFL, where games can be decided by 3 or less points more often than not, one bad snap is the difference between a win and a loss. If a kicker shanks one, or a punter needs to move at all to catch a ball, the coaches look critically at the snap before even considering attaching blame to the kicker or punter. It's amazing how well the LS players do in handling wet, muddy footballs, on crucial snaps. They are not allowed "mistakes."

 

[Half Empty]

It's all relative when it comes to salary. If you work for a company that pays $20 an hour to almost all their workers, and they pay you $8 an hour, you may be one of their employees, but you'll never be part of those sharing in the real profits. That's what I was pointing out in my observation.

Also, their tenure on the job is far less consistent than that of a player who will get a long term contract.

I understand your underlying thought, but comparing sports team salaries to the real world just isn't going to cut it - partly from the enormous gulf between 'them' and 'us' in compensation and partly that your example assumes the company pays most of their employees the same thing. Sure, long snappers are at the bottom of the banquet table, but line up the Packers' players and tell me that #35 doesn't feel like a pauper compared to, say, #20. In every organization, some are valued more than others - the long snappers are the custodians of the football world in that they're necessary but can be replaced more easily.

 

[HeartyHops]

partly from the enormous gulf between 'them' and 'us' in compensation and partly that your example assumes the company pays most of their employees the same thing.

Exactly.

Take, let's say, an engineering firm. The engineers may make upwards of 6 figures, the secretaries certainly don't, nor do the guys in shipping, the IT folks probably make somewhere in the middle. So???

In the 'real world' it mostly has to do with education, I think.

In an athlete's world, I would assume it's talent.

If I were lucky enough to earn a few million for a few years work as a LS, I'd know that beforehand (and I'm sure they all do), and be very wise with my money. Hopefully I'd have an education. Because.......life.

Now, if I were married to a guy or gal in shipping; I'd hardly be comparing my life to those married to the people with advanced degrees or a lot of experience in engineering.

TW, I'm not sure why your LS's wife friend-of-a-friend is trying to live the life as if she were married to AR. She and her husband are/were lucky! I can't imagine bitching about my spouse earning a few million during a short 'career'.

 

[TW]

I think you guys missed something. I never compared the LS wages to the real world. It was a relationship of income within football. Secondly, I never indicated she was bitching about anything. I simply stated she felt like an outsider because the financial difference was so severe.

 

[realitybytes]

i think we're all getting a little edgy because we can't wait for this season to get started already. gimme some football!