{"id":736881,"date":"2026-02-08T00:52:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T00:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/736881\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T00:52:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T00:52:22","slug":"the-nfls-most-obscure-position-long-snappers-thankful-for-chance-to-play-in-the-super-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/736881\/","title":{"rendered":"The NFL’s most obscure position: Long snappers thankful for chance to play in the Super Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) \u2014 For New England Patriots rookie long snapper Julian Ashby, just making the NFL puts him in elite company. Becoming a starter in the Super Bowl<\/a> in his first year is hard to process.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, that\u2019s what I dreamed of, and that\u2019s always been the best-case scenario,\u201d Ashby said. \u201cBut I think God\u2019s been good, because this is more than I could have ever imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ashby, alongside Seattle Seahawks snapper Chris Stoll, may only see the field a handful of times Sunday \u2014 the most playing time either man totaled this season was 12 snaps in a game \u2014 but they\u2019re vying for a chance to join the list of Super Bowl champions.<\/p>\n

They likely won\u2019t make any headlines during the game, but that\u2019s a good thing. Any attention drawn to the league\u2019s most obscure position is likely a sign they messed up.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely knowing that I\u2019m one of 32 in the league and one of two in the Super Bowl means a lot,\u201d Stoll said. \u201cIt means all the work and time I put in has paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to dynasty teams, there have been many snappers who have won not just one, but multiple Super Bowls. That includes 2000-08 Patriots long snapper Lonnie Paxton, who\u2019s in a tie for the most Super Bowl victories at the position with three.<\/p>\n

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The winning snapper the last time the Patriots played the Seahawks in the Super Bowl was Danny Aiken. There\u2019s even Ashby\u2019s predecessor, Joe Cardona, who won two.<\/p>\n

Ashby hadn\u2019t talked to any of Foxborough\u2019s formers ahead of the Super Bowl, but he was congratulated by Morgan Cox, a Super Bowl winner with Baltimore in 2013 and a current Tennessee Titan.<\/p>\n

See, the niche position is a fraternity. Snappers often train and meet up with each other, though Sunday will be the first time Ashby and Stoll have gotten together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually have the same agent, so a little bit of a connection there,\u201d Ashby said. \u201cBut look forward to getting to know him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Snappers also will watch each other\u2019s film and Stoll, a third-year player, has liked what he\u2019s seen out of the rookie.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going through the same things that I went through,\u201d Stoll said. \u201cThere\u2019s always that learning curve. His feet are really quick. Snaps are accurate. He\u2019s doing a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

The profile and attributes of a long snapper typically vary depending on special teams coaches and their demands. The position has also changed over the years, with those like long-time Chicago Bear Patrick Mannelly being former offensive linemen, while recent snappers can be described as hybrid linebackers.<\/p>\n

Ashby, who was drafted in the seventh round out of Vanderbilt, has a calling card of getting down the field in a hurry to make a play.<\/p>\n

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He has three tackles on the year \u2014 the Cleveland Browns\u2019 Rex Sunahara leads the position with seven and Stoll got one \u2014 which is an impressive feat with the Patriots punting the seventh-fewest times in the league.<\/p>\n

But the ability to cover is secondary at that spot. What\u2019s a must is doing the main job.<\/p>\n

Sticking with a practice groove gives them an edge on an extended road trip like Super Bowl week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just about trying to find ways to keep the routine the same,\u201d Ashby said. \u201cSo how can I translate everything that I do at home out here to California?\u201d<\/p>\n

Stoll expressed a similar sentiment, shooting down any thought of preparing differently when things are working.<\/p>\n

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That defines him, and just about every snapper. Reserve center Nick Maranges said Stoll is the same person every day.<\/p>\n

As he, and Ashby, look toward Sunday, they\u2019ll hope not just to be the same, but to be treated the same as they were all season \u2014under the radar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only one of us on each team, and that\u2019s the fun part about it,\u201d Ashby said. \u201cYou know what you have to do going into the game, you know exactly when your number is going to be called, and so it\u2019s fun to prepare that way and know what it\u2019s gonna look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Avery Hill is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NFL<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO (AP) \u2014 For New England Patriots rookie long snapper Julian Ashby, just making the NFL puts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":736882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[184,51450,54,106293,7,6305,18526,30373,249,6,3675,46083,261,505,15405],"class_list":["post-736881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-baltimore","tag-chris-stoll","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-danny-aiken","tag-football","tag-joe-cardona","tag-julian-ashby","tag-morgan-cox","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-position","tag-rex-sunahara","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-super-bowl","tag-tennessee-titan"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116032277979234918","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/736882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}