Luke Elkin | WUW 572

Luke is from Neenah, Wisconsin and joined the Hawkeyes in the class of 2021. Luke served as the long snapper for the Iowa Hawkeyes over the last four years. Luke shares his journey from being a high school quarterback in Wisconsin to becoming a standout long snapper at Iowa. He discusses his experiences, including the unexpected moment he was called to snap during the Iowa State game, his intensive snaps in cold weather games, and the mental and physical progression throughout his college career. We also delve into his current preparations for pursuing an NFL career, including his training and the showcases he's participating in. We get really deep in to the nerdy lane of special teams, how great Tory and Rhys have been, Casey Kreiter paving the way, what he specifically has to do to make the league, and more.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Great one for me personally today. Always love bringing on
other specialists, and I know long snapper is not exactly
the first content that you would ever want to hear,
but Luke has a really interesting story and he has
been immensely important to the iowhaw guys over the last
four years. This kid came in, was ready right away
and has been money for the Iowhawk guys and now
he seeks to make the NFL. We talked about all

(00:20):
of this his entire career. You're going to like the story.
Let's have a day, Let's go. That's serious around here.

(00:52):
Another episode of the Washington walk Ons podcast. Another Luke
back to back Luke's we just had l How do
you feel about that?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
I love it, love the ship.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Great dude, you're the more important one around here, I guess.
So this is a long Snapper podcast. We have another
long snapper on today, long Snapper for the Hawks for
the last well, really, I consider it four years. Four
full years essentially, is what your career turned into. Out
of Where are you from? Nina, Wisconsin?

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Nina, Wisconsin?

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Yep, Heino, Wisconsin. And thanks for the time, by the way,
for sitting down Yep. How's uh you just finished your
senior year. You technically have a year left, don't you.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
No, I got no years ago.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
There's no COVID years sitting there. You never got hurt
because you're a specialist.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
No red shirt, nothing, go out, yeash.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Senior walk at senior Day. Four years in the program.
Now you're gonna make a run at the NFL. What's
life like right now?

Speaker 2 (01:50):
So right now? I got back to Iowa City last week,
started training up a little bit. I went down to
Florida actually this past weekend to go train with some
staff and coaches, So that was good. Who's that Coles guys,
so casey yep. But yeah, I'm just turning here in
Iowa City. And then I got camps that I'm going
to the next few months or so that are kind

(02:12):
of all over the country. So that's exciting.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
That is exciting. I remember that after the after the
final game, it's like, Okay, what is this? What does
this look like? For a specialist? Those listening today or
tonight or whenever you put this in your ears, there
might be some might get into some nitty gritty special
team stuff. So that's gonna get it's gonna get full
on nerd mode today because I don't get to talk
to long snappers very often. You've been a Coles guy

(02:35):
your whole journey, right.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
I started with Coles around my freshman year of high school.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Really all the way back in freshman year. Okay, so
this is a good segue eight years wow. So this
is a good segue into how does Luke Elkin pick
up the ball and start long snapping? Because that's the
question for every really every specialist snapper, kicker, punter. It's like, what,
why weren't you a quarterback? Man?

Speaker 2 (03:02):
So I was a quarterback throughout high school. Oh and
what kind of started out was in eighth grade, we
were trying to like figure out who's the long snapper, punter,
and kicker, and I obviously could throw a spiral, So
I just threw that spiral with one hand between my legs,
and eighth grade like, oh, maybe you could do this.
Then freshman year came around and I had a friend
that snapped at Arizona State I think, or yeah, Arizona

(03:25):
State for a year and he was from our area.
So we went and like worked with him for a
little bit. And that's kind of like how I got
kicked off to like actually snapping a football like at
like the collegiate level with two hands and all this stuff. Yeah,
so that was that was the first time that I
actually like got into it, like technicalities and stuff. And
then from there on out I went to Cole's camps

(03:47):
and then ended up here.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Did you see that as a this friend of yours
is at ASU, he's did you see the writing on
the wall? I guess is what I'm trying to say
is like, am I I'm a quarterback right now? I
think actually when I saw you come in recruit wise,
you played a couple of different He played like safety.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
And yeah, I played safety and wide receiver.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
So we got we got a real big time athlete here,
and but you were a little smaller and a little slower.
What do you do with big girl? We have an
interruption from my daughter. You say hi to Luke, Say
hi Luke. Okay, that's why you have looked. You can

(04:30):
look forward to that and like what are you twenty two?
You can look forward like eight years. So I guess
the way it works for a lot of guys is
they're playing in another position, right, They're like, you know, fourth, fifth,
sixth grade. It's like I'm a lignedback. Like for me,
I'm a linebacker. I'm a running back. The problem is
is I'm not a Division one speed. I don't have

(04:52):
that kind of athleticism on top of that, guy like
myself played at a school where you just even if
you are really good, you're not winning a lot of games.
You're not going to get a lot of coaches coming
through town to see what you actually have got, even
if you've got some talent, and so it's an out
of it's a it's a way out to be like

(05:14):
I can make it at the top level of college
football if I if I really go after this position.
Was that sort of what it.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Was, Yeah, so kind of it was more on like
my junior year when I started to realize when school's
like a bigger name, schools started hit me up as
like a long snapper. Yeah, but like junior and senior year,
it was like I could go play like D two
football and play like an actual position, whether that's safety
or quarterback or whatever. But then it was North Dakota
State and I where were like, we'll take you as
a long snapper, and I was like, that's pretty hard

(05:44):
to pass up. On the Big Ten, Like I can't
be like I had the opportunity to go play in
the Big Ten and I turned that down to go
play D two football, So like still walk on them, Yeah, yep.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah, when were you When were you given scholarship?

Speaker 2 (05:58):
After my sophomore year, so right before my junior year.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
So you know, you're ten or eleven games in twenty
one and then another thirteen and twenty two yep, and
then and then okay, we're on the same we're on
the same path there. Yeah, the same financial calendar for us.
What do you think about that? By the way, Like
do you have opinions on I know you're not gonna

(06:23):
like it's it's hard to say, like, oh, the coaches
should have given me money sooner. Like what is your
opinion on when specialists deserve and when like when they
should be put on and stuff like that.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
So like with my opinion, it's kind of more like
if you start, I feel like you should be put
on scholarship, which is kind of just like your crucial
factor to the team, like yeah, and you make points
for the team to go win games. But like when
I was going through it, like I wasn't like very
angry that I wasn't on scholarship, sure, just because like

(06:56):
I was enjoying it. I was around a good group
of guys. Like it was like like there was never
a thought where I was like I'm going to go
leave somewhere else and go play there, Like I'm like
that thought never crossed my mind because I was like
this place is just awesome.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
Which is it's great because you love where you're at.
You're enjoying your college experience. You have an opportunity that
like even most specialists don't get. And we'll go over
sort of how you stepped in so early in your career,
but I mean four years man as a chance to
be a true starter, part of the team, like you're

(07:33):
the guy that just doesn't come around very often and
so to some extent, and it was the same for me,
as they know they've got you by the balls, like
they've got you because your situation is so good. You're
already living in Iowa City. You're not going to uproot
your life now. Compared to my situation in fourteen, there

(07:53):
wasn't like this portal thing, this nil not that snappers
would get a bunch of nil, but who knows like
that guys eaving and going wasn't as frequent, and so
there definitely was no thought in my mind like, oh,
I should try and go seek a better opportunity. But
I'm thinking about just this year, Luke, like, I don't
know how close you pay attention, But then the Nebraska's

(08:13):
long snappers have been got awful, and I think they
went and got a guy in the portal like after
this season ended. Yeah, like some like New Hampshire School
or something.

Speaker 2 (08:23):
They picked up like a regular student that snapped in
high school for this year and then played for him,
which Jesus is the reason why they lost the game
against US. Unbelievable yep.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
And so there are opportunities, not all the time. There's
definitely not as many like open spots as a quarterback
or running back at all these other schools, and there's
only one guy that does it at each one of
these schools. But there are opportunities where if you could
have found something like that, you could have even made
a lateral move like or an upward move in the
big ten or somewhere in the the SEC like, hey,

(08:56):
we just ran into an issue where our snapper is
not very good. You were a proven guy after one year.
I mean, some would say proven you could go make
that run, but I'm sure it was also because everybody
gets this, it's like, hey, after this year, like if
you prove you're the guy, like you got it, and
then it comes back around to camp and it's like

(09:18):
you're waiting for it and then they I don't know
how it went for you, if you had a meeting
like that or if you got brought into the office,
but for me, it was like, hey, I know we
said that we had a scholarship for you your second
year starting, but we got two left, and these these
two guys, they really they deserve it and they're a
class ahead of you.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
Right.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Was there anything like that?

Speaker 2 (09:36):
Nothing? Really, There wasn't much talk after like my freshman
year for it. Okay. Then it was actually sophomore year
at the bowl game in Music City Bowl. It was
after practice and we're doing some stuff after practice and
Kaf comes up and he's like, hey, look, by the way,
we plan on putting you on scholarship for next semester
or next year, I don't remember which one it was. Well,

(09:58):
and I was like, oh, like what I know, right,
so subtle, I'm just practicing like doing my own thing,
and you come up and drop that bomb on me, like.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
It is super cool. Yeah, and it's it's such a
like you get to go text, you know, tell your parents,
you immediately text your pin like that's awesome, right, And
if I've told the story a lot on here, but
like for me, I was literally me and another guy
got put on at the same time, and we just
got a text message from KB like one random summer

(10:32):
afternoon like, hey, you guys are on scholarship. You need
to go sign your papers. That's how I got my scholarship.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
That's crazy.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
It's like, you see, I'm not asking for like one
of those team meeting videos like surprise.

Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
But like I didn't even talk to KF. I didn't
like it was so such a weird thing. And I
feel like they like to keep it low key for
the specialists at IOWA or really like most guys. But
once you get over that, yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, because Drew Stevens got put on the same time
I did, so his freshman year, month's sophomore year. Yeah,
so that's where I was like, oh, that's pretty cool,
like two specialists getting put on scholarship, Like that's like
very good for us. Yeah, they don't do that very often.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
They're not handing those things out. No, what was the
message to you in recruit like whatever your recruiting looked
like junior year you said you started to get you know,
people are starting to reach out. What was the message
from the staff like before you committed, It was.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
More like you're gonna have to come in here and
work your butt off, get after it and show us
that you're able to play. And obviously like coming to
ioland knowing too, like you got to go through it
to find your time, especially at other positions as well.
But it was basically like, if you prove that you're better,

(11:49):
you'll end up being the starter and then after that
you'll get put on scholarship. Like that was kind of
like my whole thing.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
And you came in in twenty twenty, twenty twenty one,
twenty twenty one was your first season, yep. And you
came in that summer that summer June, okay, and so
at the time it would have been spied whack.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
Yeah, my brother yep and buddy Buddy four long Snappers.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
Who uh real name not Buddy. His real name is
Liam Reardon, right, that too, Northwestern yep, And is he
the guy?

Speaker 2 (12:28):
I think? So wow An this past year, yeah, Brad transfer,
but then he had another year because a red shirt
and COVID and so when the sixth year was this year,
so he's going to Northwestern.

Speaker 1 (12:40):
Oh my godness, that is awesome. That is it's so
sick to see. And so yeah, so you guys had
four guys that were kind of like there was one
there at one point. I also had three guys underneath me,
and it was like what are we doing? Like why
how did we end up with so many guys? There
was a little bit of there's some politics about it
back then too, but and there always is. So you

(13:02):
come into a room of four guys and it's like
what you get thrown into summer? At least you've got
some summer workouts. You got to you got to feel
it out. How how was that first summer? How like
getting into the workouts, the speed stuff. They kind of
easy you guys in as a freshman class, But what
were you thinking in your head?

Speaker 2 (13:18):
It was pretty good. I don't really think like too
much of it, like not to the point where it's like, oh,
I need to make sure I'm snapping all the time,
and like I need to make sure that I'm doing
all this to put myself in the position that I
want to be in. Like I don't really think of that.
I don't think too much that summer. It was more
of like what am I doing? Like I'm clueless, Like
I need to figure out how to do these certain lifts, Like.

Speaker 1 (13:40):
You're just trying to figure out how to get to
like class and like.

Speaker 2 (13:42):
Literally all that stuff. Yeah, because I was more of
the summer, and then when school started out that was
still like a whole nother like what am I going
to do? Like this is a lot.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
Figuring out your schedule just to be a divisional athlete.

Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah, but yeah, that didn't really and then fall camp
comes around. I'm like, am I going to be invited
to fall camp? I'm not sure?

Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yeah, how did that go? What was that conversation like
through the summer because you're still talking to like Coach
Woods at that point.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
Probably, Yeah, I don't get too much conversation about it.
It was just kind of like this is we got
to get down to a certain number of people. There's
going to be certain around of people left out, and
you'll find a note in your locker or something like
that locker, and I'm like, oh, wow, I am going
to camp.

Speaker 1 (14:28):
It's like Harry Potter Goblet of Fire or like the
goblet will spin out a note if you're in Yeah. Yeah,
so that so, and then was it just you and
or was it you Buddy and Beak awesome?

Speaker 2 (14:41):
Yeah? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (14:43):
And so you guys going to camp and are you
the three at that point? Ye?

Speaker 2 (14:47):
And we're splitting reps on the Next Man film on the.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
Okay, and how quickly or if at all, did you
sort of take the two spot? Because pretty quickly after
this we're going to talk about you taking the spot
because it happens fast. But like, did it happen in
camp where you kind of ascended as the clear too?
And he was a clear three?

Speaker 2 (15:06):
I wouldn't say it like anybody didn't come out and
say you were the clear two. It was just kind
of like we're still splitting reps. It was kind of
more like like it's not like I knew I was
a two, but I was like, it's me and Buddy
right now competing for that second spot, right Like I
never realized that, like, oh I could have been a
two here or.

Speaker 1 (15:27):
Not right the game the season starts, and Speedwack had
snapped during the COVID year and there had been some
it wasn't the best year. There's a couple mishaps, a
couple places for improvement. And I got this whole story,
by the way, from Coach Woods, like the week or

(15:50):
two after it happened in twenty twenty one, and it
was amazing to listen to him tell it, and I
wish we could have him tell it on here. You
guys get and die with State week. You the first
game goes by, and I think the Speedwack have like
a low ball, like one or two low balls. Yeah,
and so you like, there's you guys still aren't feeling great,
like KF isn't feeling super confident. And by the way,

(16:14):
none of this is against Speedwack. Great dude. Yeah, sometimes
you just like you just don't have it. Something's off,
like and it just happened at this time that something
was off for Austin. And uh so the first game
goes by, he takes all the snaps. The next game,
you guys are at Iowa State.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yep, right, so that you're not yet.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
Tell me, tell me how this goes because this as
a freshman who's been on campus for ten days, as
this as the semester has started, has got to be
the biggest whirlwind of of like your life up to
this point.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
Yeah. So that first game, I don't even suit up
for it, like I was in the stands.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
Yeah, So like I wasn't even on the sideline. And
then week two rolls are on and I'm still at
like the two spot or three spot like Buddy and
I don't know for like field goal or not. But
then that week goes on and it's like that Thursday
and I got a call from Coach Woods, Like I'm
in the middle of class. I get a call from them,
like I can't pick it up, like I have like
ten minutes left a class. I was like text him,

(17:13):
like I'll call you back in a few So I
get out of my class at the epb oh terrible building.

Speaker 1 (17:19):
It's the worst.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, So I called him. He's like, hey, Luke, like
you'll be traveling this week. If you have any questions
like asking any of the older guys are me, like
what you need to do to be ready? I'm like
all right, Like this is pretty cool, Like this is exciting,
Like I got to go. It was like I think
me and Joe Labis were like the only two freshmen
that we're traveling. Yeah time. So I was like, oh,

(17:41):
this is actually like really cool. So then we go down.
So that Friday, we head out and we're in the
locker room waiting for the bus to leaves, and Buddy
shows up and we're like, oh, Buddy, you're traveling too,
because usually we take two long sampers, two kickers, two punters.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yeah, you're not taking any more than that.

Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah, but next thing you no, Budy's like, yeah, I
got a call from Coach Woods this morning Friday morning
that was like you're traveling too. So it's me, Buddy
and pe At a call traveling, which is just like
crazy having three long snappers go over to Iowa State.

Speaker 1 (18:13):
Do you do you at this moment, like as you
guys are kind of sitting there going, it's like the
Spider Man meme, like you're you're pointing at each other
and it's like, oh.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
You you you. I wouldn't say necessarily that because it
wasn't like it was like there's gonna be a determination
who's stamping on game day, Like there wasn't like like
it was awesome, but yeah, like it like it was awesome.
This is your job, you're stapping for us.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Like that was like, fully, do you have any sense
of the unshirt uncertainty though, like as you're like, oh,
they're bringing both of us, as like is there any
or you're just thinking, fuck, yeah, I get to travel.

Speaker 2 (18:46):
Yeah, it was really travel. Like I'm like, that's gonna
be fair. But then I remember being in the hotel
room with Ryan Gressonde yep, and like we're sitting down
and talking. He's like like this is when it like
actually hit me is he goes Luke like you are
going to be need to be ready on Saturday to play.
And that's when I was like, oh my god, Like.

Speaker 1 (19:07):
Because Gersonde at this point is a was that his
final year, Yeah, year twenty one, so he's he's seasoned.
He's been around tough for the kid because he just
had so many injuries his his career. He could really
boot it if he was just healthy and got any
kind of consistency. Uh, And he's just a he's a
great dude. But but as far as like like he

(19:28):
fully understands the gravity of the situation, as far as
like who they're taking what means what And so he
says that to you and that sort of relays it
to like, oh, it's serious.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
Yeah. Like that's when I like finally hit me, which
was like Friday night before the game. I'm like, wow,
like yeah, like I might have to go in tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (19:45):
Do you have any idea what the IOI State game?

Speaker 2 (19:47):
Even not not really, no, I just knew that we were.
It was because I think we were nine and they
were eight or vice versa, and.

Speaker 1 (19:54):
Yeah, that was the year that it was called. Dude,
this isn't that's an insane first game. Unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
Yeah. And then also the funny part too is Woods
text me, I think it was on that Thursday or Friday,
and he's like, you're not gonna be able to wear
number forty four because Benson's on the punt unit. And
he's like, we don't want to like have those line up.
And he's like, what number do you want? And it
was like a range of like eighty something, ninety something,
thirty nine.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
I like, just the worst numbers on the team.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
Just give me thirty nine, Like I don't want a
high number. So then so that game where we get
in the locker room for the for the game, and
I don't have a last name on my jersey. It
literally just says it's literally thirty nine.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
They just made the jersey like, no last name, nothing,
So I thought that was pretty funn I have like
a quoto or two of running off the field though.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
It's kind of it's kind of like an easter egg
like and and sort of a a little bit of
a microcosm of like what the specialist is like. You're
just a no name position that just goes out there
does their job and doesn't need to be recognized. Okay,
it kind of plays nicely. I like it. Yeah, so
you run out there no name on your jersey. Spewack
is still starting.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:00):
Right, you're going through warm ups.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
And let me say something about almost Oh, tell me
tell me about it. Warm warm ups and Ashton Kutcher
is there.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
Oh Kutcher was there.

Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yeah, he was there because he was speaking on college
game day and he's a big Hawkye fan.

Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
So we're we're done with our wormos. We're kind of
hanging around for the rest of the team to come out,
and he comes up to us and starts talking to us.
And like he is absolutely hammered.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
Oh yeah, he likes to get juicy.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
So we were like, I can't believe this is happening,
Like this is like Ashton Kutcher is just like trying
to talk to us. We don't understand what he's saying.
We're just kind of nod in our head yes and no.
But I was like, this is another crazy like experience too,
Like this is a famous celebrity who's in great movies,
great shows, and he's like, yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:42):
Your life at this point is just like what is
going on? Yeah, you're just you know, the the Iowa
state fans are rowdy at that point, you've already you've
already walked out to like the fuck you Iowa. It's
it's a Oh Ashton Kutcher sloshed is trying to make
conversation unbelievable. Do you remember and again I don't want

(22:02):
to focus it on speedwack, but it it matters. Do
you remember how he how he was looking in warm
ups that day, how he was feeling. Did he give
off any like energy, like.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
Not any like bad energy, No, like he seemed he
seemed fine, Like I didn't notice anything horrible from from
pregame warm.

Speaker 1 (22:18):
Ups and you guys come out, and I remember it very,
very succinctly. His first nap is high yep, and I'm like,
it's I'm already like keyed in because I knew that
the previous week didn't go well, and I'm like Jesus,
like what are we gonna do? And this is where

(22:39):
the story was pretty great from Woods Again, I'm gonna
let you tell it, but like, can you tell me
how you got the nod on the sideline? Maybe you
weren't even part of this, but like I heard that,
uh was it was? It was it Gersonde that walked
over and said, like somebody else or maybe it was
Keith was already gone, right, so it would have been

(23:00):
so somebody walked over and Liz like, you have to
put Elkin in. That's what I heard.

Speaker 2 (23:04):
I think I think that was okay.

Speaker 1 (23:06):
But I think it was like the way he told me,
It was like your Sunday walks up and goes, hey,
Elkin's gotta go. He's got He's got to be the guy.

Speaker 2 (23:16):
It might have been shoot act only I think of it.
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (23:18):
It might have been shooty. It might have been shoot yeah,
And so who lets.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
You know, Coach Woods comes up to me and like
you know how frantic Coach Woods can be on oh
my God, which is like he just cares so much.
That's for another story, but yeah, he comes up to me.
He's like like, Luke, you're going in for field goals,
like straight serious, like kind of yelling a little bit
because he's also amped up. And I was just kind
of like, oh, like okay, like that's on the heart,

(23:44):
start racing a little bit. I was like, here we go.
But it was nice too because like like as I
got older, like realizing the transition of oh we're about
to punt. Oh wait now we're in field goal range.
Oh we got sacked. Punt again, We're like right now,
I'm just at a point where like, oh, I'm just
doing fidgless.

Speaker 1 (24:01):
So I'm like, yeah, there's not there's there's a way
that you can. Yeah you can.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
I was able to stick with Ryan because Ryan just held,
so it was just me and Ryan like pretty much
the whole game snaps, so which helped me out a lot.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
Yeah, that's a huge entry. Like I remember just thinking
even even my first game, just thinking like oh God,
can we please just kick a field goal for the
first one. Yeah, because the first time they step it
back to fourteen, you're like, wow, that's uh, that's pretty far.
It's pretty far out here on game day looks a
little different. So that is nice. That's a great little

(24:39):
soft entry into uh into like your snapped and everything
went well right as far as I can, as far
as I remember, and then the next week are you
have everything?

Speaker 2 (24:50):
So the next week I got put on punt and field.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
And was that decision made during the week or okay
during just because of period and stuff like that, Like
he was just like okay, Elkin's looking a little bit
more consistent, like he's the guy. And then for those listening,
we're talking like this is August early September of twenty
twenty one. You've snapped every single game since that point, yep.
Just didn't look back.

Speaker 2 (25:13):
Nope.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
Have you had any chance to sort of reflect on
your career now that it's over and just sort of
that specific part of it, like oh my god, Like
how crazy is it that I went in that day?
And then it's just been every game since then.

Speaker 2 (25:28):
I don't think I've realized it yet, just because like
it's still like so fresh. Like even like these past
few weeks, not being like having to go to meetings
or anything like that still feels weird to me. But
I'd say, like like realizing like now that I'm that,
I'm done that. It's like, oh, I did SNAP for
four years for the University of Iowa. Yeah, not too

(25:50):
many people can say they did that, Like pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (25:53):
Not too many. Like again, going back to the whole
thing is like there are just not a lot of
four year guys. No, Like, if it's that other position
and there's somebody playing that early, there's a good chance
they're leaving early because they were so good. Specialists aren't
leaving early, but most of them are getting the chance
as a true freshman yea. And so it's like I'm
telling like, you're gonna that's something you're gonna look back on.

(26:15):
I do it all the time, and I just think, God,
I was so lucky. I Mine just happened to be
the I don't know what was going on. They just
didn't recruit somebody or they just they It's like they
just they just happened to need somebody the year that
I came in because they had Casey going out as
a senior, and after he graduated that fall, it was like, Okay,

(26:36):
I just like got the job. There's just nobody else.
And I think about that all the time, like, Wow,
what great luck I had that I happened to be
coming out of high school that year, that Iowa two
hours down the road from my house, like needed a snapper.
I happened to be right, Like, it just feels so lucky.
So I was a little bit worried that you did

(26:57):
have an extra year because to my knowledge, not just snappers,
but like any position. I'm pretty sure I'm still laying
claim to one record at Iowa and it's the most
consecutive starts of any player.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
Ever.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
How many games did you start in a row? Because
you wouldn't have started the first one and then you
didn't technically get the start at Iowa State. So you
got what eleven that year? Yep, eleven or no, twelve,
you would have gotten twelve in that for you because
you guys went to the.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
Big Ten championship game. I want to say, it's like
fifty one or fifty two. Okay, it might be like
fifty two played in fifty one started.

Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah sounds right. Yeah, mine was fifty mine was fifty three,
and I thought you had some like COVID year saved up.
You were going to come back and make it like
sixty something. Yeah, okay, good when you're in the league.
I can just at least hold on to that. I
still have that.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
The Uh do you have the bench press or the Yeah?

Speaker 1 (27:54):
Still yeah, I still got the bench too. I cannot
I and nothing against you. Some people just aren't bench pressers,
but I cannot believe that's still up there.

Speaker 2 (28:03):
Well, buddy, I think was supposed to beat it like
his last year that he was here, depending like Mono,
so like he was, I got saved by Mono. He
was super sick, like the week of max outs.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
And he could there's no way you're.

Speaker 2 (28:16):
Getting because wow and all that stuff.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
Maybe God is real. He saved there. That's my only claim.
Because I had the U. I had the five to
ten five, but then my brother broke it. Yeah, a
little bastard. So that's good. I still got a couple
of things over there. They can't forget me quite yet.
What was it like, uh, from year one to year four?

(28:42):
Talk about like the mental maturity of the of the
of the position and just you know, at first like
you said, you're like, oh god it, thank god, I
just have the pat snaps, Like that's the kind of
thing you're thinking about. You don't even know what the
IOIWA state rivalry and that game day atmosphere is, like
you don't even know, Like you're just running out there
like I'm just I'm just a snapper. As to where

(29:03):
like you get more comfortable, the swarm becomes less of
a I mean, it's still sick every time, but it
becomes less of an event and more of a part
of the routine and you can bring the heart rate
down a little bit. Like what was that like over
the four years?

Speaker 2 (29:16):
So my freshman year, like it was I'm going about
at seven thirty eight every night, Like it was like
I'm going about early, like I'm getting my sleeve, Like
I'm so like locked in on doing this just because
like it's like your heart starts pounding like all the
time for it. And like as a season went on,
I got a lot better. Uh, but like ranging that
to like year four like right now, like it's like

(29:39):
like you always get that little bit of nervous, but
it's at the same time like something that I kind
of harped on with myself this year was a little
bit was like, you've done this a million times. Yeah,
you do not need to be worried about going out
there and snapping, no matter if it's a game winning kick,
if it's the first point of the game, Like, just
trust that you've done it so many times and then
go out and do it.

Speaker 1 (29:57):
Because there's always that fear in the back of your
mind of like the worst possible scenario, like what if
worst case scenario happens, And for us, that's very it's
it's a very exposing moment. Yeah, like kicker completely shanks,
one punter shanks. One snapper throws it over a guy's head.
Not good, No, the horrible look. Immediately everyone's fumbling through

(30:22):
their media guide trying to figure out who's thirty nine
and I'm about to send him death threats on Instagram. Yeah,
And so that's like even as a even as a senior,
like you kind of think about it and it almost
becomes funny like, man if I do that now, like
I'm really ass Like I'm bad. Yeah, but I love

(30:44):
that you came back to that, like I've done this
a million times, because that is eventually what I settled
on too, was like, Dude, I've snapped a ball so
many times at this point that there's almost no reason
to think about it, like just let it happen.

Speaker 2 (30:56):
Like even even this year with Reesar Punter, like early
like training camp, he's on the varsity field with us
and it's and he's like, I'm nervous for a punk period,
Like that's what he's saying, yep. And like for me,
I'm like I've done a million punt periods. Like I'm like,
I've just go out. I could go out into a
pump period right now for I one or two with
like two war ump stamps, Like it's not like the
end of the world. Yeah, Like for him as a freshman,

(31:18):
it's like you got Coach Farrenston next to you, got
Coach Woods screaming everything, Coach Wallace like all this stuff.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
Does he still please tell me that after stretch, immediately
after stretch breakdown, he's still.

Speaker 2 (31:30):
Going punt yep, just screaming.

Speaker 1 (31:33):
That makes me so happy. Yeah, So were you able to?
And maybe you're not this kind of guy because not
everybody is, but are you able to? Kind of Okay,
I've got myself taken care of, like I hear Rehese
telling me this, he's my freshman punter. You're trying like,
are you offering advice to him? Oh?

Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah. So the bigg thing with Threes too is that
he is tell me about this guy he doesn't know
like much about football.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
So just like they literally didn't know shit.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
Yeah, I think I think Reese knew a little bit
more than Toy did. But there are still times where
like like during a game, Reese would be like caught
up in the game and I'm like, you can't be
doing that right now, like you need to sit on
a bench, like you need to relax, like wait for
your time to come. Yep. But it was just like
a lot of like routine during the game for him
and just figuring out like what works best for him,
because that was like my biggest thing my freshman year.

(32:20):
Freshman year too, is like I couldn't even tell you
what my routine was, yep, what I did up into
the snab. But with Reese, it was like I've done
this for a few years, Like I understand what I
need to do to get ready. I'm gonna do as
much as I can to help him out, just because
I know how good of a punter he is, and
he's going to help us like win these games.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
And he was good. He was great this year. He
was I think he might have even ended up like
right around or even better than where Tory was his
freshman year.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
So toys freshman year just hit like end over end punts.

Speaker 1 (32:55):
Yeah, he didn't even hit spirals.

Speaker 2 (32:57):
Yeah, and this year with threes, we barely hit an end.
Were in like rippunts. So like that's where it shows,
Like watching Reese hit even like restern period two, sometimes
you're just like, yep, that's uh, that's a really good
punt right there, dude.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
Yeah, yeah, dude, I've been there. Some of those guys
have unbelievable legs, man, and it is like, aren't to
just sit there and watch that? I got to and
you'll probably get to do a lot. I mean, you're
gonna go to these camps, so you're gonna be with
the best kickers and punters. You're gonna be snapping to them.
You've probably already done that some There was a twenty

(33:31):
nineteen so this is this is about the time where
McAfee has been out of the league for like a
couple of years and his show's starting to take off,
but he's still kind of dabbling, dipping his toe in
the water. And he got a call from the Bears like, hey,
you want to come work out? We need a guy.

(33:53):
And Jamie is in Aims at the time, and he
calls my brother, and my brother calls me and he goes,
Jamie needs us to come and snap for Matt Hawk
and Pat McAfee. And I'm like, holy shit, let's do it.
And I don't know if you've ever seen Matt Matt

(34:14):
Hawk U punt. He's a lefty. He was with the
Dolphins for a while. I think he was with the
Colts a little bit last couple of years. So we
end up at Iowa States practice field like in the
summer of twenty nineteen, snap into Matt Hawk, who's now
like a seven year vet, and and McAfee, and it
was one of those same same things, like when Tory
hits a boomer or like like it's Pat McAfee and

(34:36):
Hawk can absolutely smoke it. And you just sit there
and you're like, these are absolute nukes.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
Yeah, there are.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
There's missiles coming off of their foot right now. It's unbelievable.
Is he hit? Like what's uh what's Reese's a ball, Like,
it's just perfect, seventy two degrees, that a little downfield
wind he gets, he puts one into it. What's what's
what's a hang?

Speaker 2 (34:57):
And what's a I was gonna say he's a few,
like I would. I don't want to put like winning
win into it just because that kind of that could
affects a lot. But like his best ball is like
fifty five five oh something like. That's like that's an
NFL ball right there. Yeah, but then it's also like

(35:18):
you get one of those punts out of twenty five, right. Yeah.
It's just a consistency for him, which I'll be excited
to watching this next year just to see how much
he goes from year one to year two, just because
how he performed this past year is like he's got
three more years left, like.

Speaker 1 (35:36):
Yeah, And I think that's how we felt with Tory too.
When he was a freshman. We were all like, dude,
he's so good already, yeah what is he? And then
he just got better, slightly better, slightly better, slightly better,
and like and now he's the guy for the Bears.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
Like Toy's senior year, Like during pump period, we have
like eight punts. Seven of those eight you'd be like, yeah,
those are those are good punts. Yeah, You're just like
looking at him like I'm already walking back to get
the next snap on the balls around yet like.

Speaker 1 (36:06):
It's I mean, Tori special, He's different. Go back to
your freshman year on the sideline in the middle of
games talking about routine. Were you like a fidgety guy?
Where you a guy who you need? Like? So, I
always felt like I wanted limited reps. I didn't need
a lot. I just needed a I needed to see

(36:27):
a couple of good ones go back, and I felt
good about that. Whereas like Miguel Rossinos in practice or
even super who you would have you met Supert at all?
Oh he was so he was before Speedwack after me,
those two guys they needed I mean, they would just
rep after rep after rep. It was so much volume.

(36:49):
It's like they just it was almost like they're just
doing it because there's nothing else to do. Like there
would be times where I'd be like, guys, chill, you
got it, you gotta you gotta lay back. Where did
you land on that spectrum?

Speaker 2 (37:01):
So I feel like my freshman year it was more
of reps, reps, reps. Yeah, just because it's.

Speaker 1 (37:07):
Like TV timeout, you're trying to get like six on
the sideline.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yeah, I wouldn't say like six, but like three or four,
which is more than I didn't need in my senior year. Yeah,
but that's just because like I thought, like the more
reps I get, the better off I'll be, like, the
more feeling I get of the ball coming off my fingers,
I'll be shut off the game. But then I'd say,
like towards my senior year, it was like TV timeout,
I'd sit on the bike or sit on the bench

(37:32):
for like the first minute and a half two minutes,
and then get one or two snaps with thirty to
a minute left on the TV timeout and then go
sit back down. Yeah, just because like I didn't I
realized that I didn't need as much, just because I
remember my freshman and sophomore year, like could get towards
the end of games and I'd be like my legs would.

Speaker 1 (37:50):
Be like dead, Yeah, calves start to cramp.

Speaker 2 (37:52):
Yeah, like this isn't good. So that's one thing I'm
glad I realized said, but it took me a while.
But my junior senior year, I was like all right,
Like even pregame war ups, like I don't need this money.

Speaker 1 (38:03):
Oh god, dude, pregame warm up. So yeah, pregate warm
up is useless. It's almost useless. Yeah, it makes you
tired more than anything.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
Yeah, Like I think i'd get I'd probably get fifteen
to twenty punt snaps pre game yep, towards my senior year,
Like it's like that's all I really think I need.
I feel like freshman year is more like you're getting
twenty to thirty. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:29):
Sometimes I used to tell the guys this all the time.
Like my senior year, there was a time where I
would hit like two snaps like I'm talking from cold,
pure cold. Two snaps at eight yards, two snaps at ten,
two at twelve, one at fourteen into the period, like

(38:49):
seven balls to start practice and then we're in punt
walk right or into the period. Like, it does not
take a lot once you've done it a million times?
Did you ever have? Uh? So when we were there, Baker,
Jason Baker came back and worked with us. Did Bake
ever come back during your time?

Speaker 2 (39:06):
Yeah? He was there all four years, every year.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
So he's doing that every year still yep, dude, I
have to get Baked on the show, which.

Speaker 2 (39:12):
Is just unreal like having him. We also we had
a joke for him called big Game Bake. Oh yeah,
oh yeah, just because he came in twenty one to
the Penn State game, which when we were like the
three year the two versus Penn SA. Of course when
he came to another big game too, I don't remember
which one it was.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
And so you're giving him shit about he only comes
to the big ones, it comes to the big games. Yeah,
he did that around our time too.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
Yeah, I haven't having Baker on the sideline, and like
there's something about it that is just like like whenever
he was there, like the specialist would perform so well yep,
every single time, and it's not like he's like saying
a lot of stuff to us, like just there and
like coming off and he'd be like good time. Like
just having that you're just like here we go.

Speaker 1 (39:58):
Like I don't I don't know what it is either,
but there is something about that guy. I got his
calm energy or just the way the way that he's
so like surgical about how he thinks of the snap,
the punt, the kick.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
Yeah, he knows so much about football too, It's unreal, unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (40:17):
Did you take a lot from him off the field
where he was you know, I wasn't a big guy.
I just never was a guy that tracked my snaps
very well. I just didn't like call it defiance or
me being stubborn or just lazy. But I I never
felt like I got anything out of charting. Yes, Bake

(40:38):
is a huge charter, the kickers chart everything. Yeah, And
like he tried to get me into it and it
helped a little bit, But I like the journaling stuff
more and sort of the mental processing. But like, did
you take anything specific away when Bake would come that
that helped a lot.

Speaker 2 (40:52):
So Like his big thing that he harped on this
past year was like, like what is pregame warm up for?
And the takeaway was that it's literally just getting your
body warm, Like that's the only thing. Like He's like,
you could have the worst pregame warm rope and go
out and perform well. Which funny story about that is
Maryland this past year where Drew had five field goals.

(41:14):
I think it was yeah, yeah, like pregame warm rope.
He was like, my likes field dead, like I don't
feel too good, Like, yeah, ball's going over the place.
But like that's literally all pregame warm up should be for,
is just getting your body ready and warm to go
out and perform. And it doesn't matter if you hit
a bad ball. It doesn't matter if you do this
because it's not the game. So that's probably my biggest

(41:35):
takeaway that I took from Baker at least this past year.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
Yeah, and there's just I know, there's one hundred other
little things that he just kind of says in passing
where you just sit there and you're like, yeah, that's smart.
That's just a smart guy. Did anybody else ever come back?
Have you ever worked with Crider?

Speaker 2 (41:55):
He showed up like one I think spring ball practice
my sophomore year.

Speaker 1 (42:01):
Still ever, did he still ever come back for like
summer workouts or anything.

Speaker 2 (42:04):
I think he did maybe once or twice. I don't
really remember too much though.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
Did you know about him? How how early on did
you learn about him? Because he's kind of like the
guy right for us, he's he's he's the hawk guy
that is literally still doing it. He's about to be
in year ten.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
Yeah, I think.

Speaker 1 (42:24):
He's like the prototype He's what I hoped that I
would turn into. And I'm sure Supert thought he maybe
had a chance for a bit. And now you've made
it through your career and like that's the goal, right.

Speaker 2 (42:35):
Yeah. I didn't. I didn't really know of him till
like my freshman year. Yeah, and it was like whoa,
Like he's been playing the league for however, six six
five six years, Like it's like he's making a career
out of it.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
His whole story too, of how he got in the
league is just like crazy too. Takes like years off science.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
He was a science teacher. Sub Yeah, he uh god,
at this point, I've forgotten the details of it. But
he first like two maybe even three years, he's you know,
he's getting like that camp like he's he's signed for
many camp and he's through the summer and then he
gets into camp and then he's the guy that gets cut.

(43:18):
The Cowboys forever had this old dude. His name was
like lp La Ducer. He was like French, and he
was this massive dude. He was like six five, two
sixty and he was just a vet, like ten eleven
year vet when Casey was like their second guy and
so Casey's trying to break through or they're kind of

(43:38):
holding on to Casey like if something happens to the
old guy, and nothing ever did, so he goes through,
like he graduated in thirteen was his last year. So
twenty fourteen he gets cut by the Cowboys and he's
just kind of hanging out during football season. Twenty fifteen
he gets cut by the Cowboys. He's hanging out during
football season. I think twenty sixteen is when he finally

(43:59):
gets picked up by the Broncos YEP. And then he
plays like three or four years with the Broncos, and
now he's been another four or five years with the
Jet with the Giants, and it's just like, I mean,
if you could just make it happen. And I always
my my dying uh proclamation is that they just I
was just too short. But hey, not not for you. Man.

(44:24):
Your six one? Your six one? Aren't you like a
legitimate six one?

Speaker 2 (44:28):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (44:28):
Says it on the roster, But they put the tape
measure on you and you actually are six one?

Speaker 2 (44:32):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (44:32):
And what do you weigh? All?

Speaker 2 (44:34):
Right? Now, I'm in like two thirty, trying to get
up to like two thirty. Two to two thirty five.

Speaker 1 (44:38):
I was gonna say, you're trying to put a little
more on yep. Have you been told to Yeah? Yeah,
I went from two. I went from two eighteen to
two forty three, from the Bowl game to protein that's insane,
fair Life, chocolate, milks, baby five a day. I couldn't

(45:00):
get taller, so I had to get wider. You know.
It's the only way that I would give myself a chance.
So yeah, I know, I totally understand sort of where
you're at right now. It's a fun time. I mean,
do you think you have a shot?

Speaker 2 (45:14):
I would say, y yeah, I mean do you know yeah?

Speaker 1 (45:19):
I mean, of course you're gonna need a big pro day, right, yeah,
do you think? Uh? But like I at this point,
it's almost like I don't doubt that happens. You're It
almost just comes down to like luck certain situations. Do
you have an agent?

Speaker 2 (45:32):
I do?

Speaker 1 (45:32):
Yep, Okay, that's good. That's one thing I would change
if I had to go back and do it, because
I just kind of gave out my own phone number
and never really had an agent. And I think an
agent's important to fight for you, yeah, and like make calls.
Are you pretty up to date on like every roster
and no, you're just like screw it.

Speaker 2 (45:52):
Yeah, I'm at a point where it's like I'm not
worried about like I mean all like the politics and
like you gotta go to this camp, you gotta do this,
all this stuff. At the end of the day, Like
all I want to do is just snap a football,
Like I don't I don't want to think about all
this stuff like what if this happens, what if that happens,
because that's when you start thinking about the wrong things. Sure,

(46:12):
but like right now, it's like I just want to
get where I need to be and snap of football
like that's all I want to do.

Speaker 1 (46:18):
Yeah, No, I understand the Uh. So you just went
down and worked with.

Speaker 2 (46:24):
Cooles.

Speaker 1 (46:25):
Yeah, with Casey. No, not Casey.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
What's his name, Casey Casper?

Speaker 1 (46:30):
Is it the guy before that, Casey too? They had
a guy before Casey that was that was doing as well.
So you work with Casey and you know, you probably
got all your little things at this point, I guess
to get real nerdy and we won't spend too much
on it, but like your strengths and areas of that

(46:50):
need improvement as far as like the nitty gritty of
snapping of football. What do you think?

Speaker 2 (46:54):
So I say, right now, my big improvement I mean
to work on is just snapping and protecting all throughout
I would snap and release, So right now I started
roughly like two weeks ago, like snapping and protecting for
the first time, and I was like, like this isn't
like too bad. But at the same time, like I'll
be going up against guys that have been doing it
for the past four years. Yeah, that's the other part

(47:15):
where it's like little like oh, I need to like
work on like the like this, like this is my
biggest thing because in the NFL you have to be
able to block these giant human beings monsters while getting
a good snap. So that's probably my biggest need for
improvement right now. One of my strengths, i'd say, though,
is that.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
Your pats.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
What do you say, your pats? Maybe that, yeah, but
also like being able to throw like a decent fastball
and being somewhat more athletic than other snaps. Sure, yeah,
I'd say that's probably one of my things. But at
the same time too, like these other snappers, like I

(47:56):
was with the West Virginia snapper this past weekend. He's
like six two, like two forty yeah, and he can
move so like it's like.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
At yeah, at some point, you're like, I just don't
know if my athleticism is going to do it. You know,
everybody's just as good, but I really thought that that
would play well for me too. I was probably not.
Probably I was the most athletic snapper coming out of
our class, and they didn't.

Speaker 2 (48:21):
Give a shit.

Speaker 1 (48:22):
They just wanted somebody big. They just wanted somebody big.
So yeah, I think I think what impressed me the
most about your ball over the years, and maybe you
can tell me I'm wrong, but I've always felt like
you were pretty dialed on short snaps, like from the
jump laces and everything. I could never figure out laces, dude,
Like that's probably the worst thing that I had. And

(48:45):
you're your long snaps are great, too, but it always
felt like your your pats were just chef's kiss. Ten
out of ten, top three worst snaps of your career
off off the top of your head, I know you
know them well.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
I think I only know one, but it was Illinois
freshman year. Punt snap were down seven nothing. Punt snap
rolls right between toy's legs, he jumps on it, they
get the ball, kick a pat, They're up ten to nothing.

Speaker 1 (49:17):
I wasn't asking that, by the way, with three in mind.
I just know that you probably have three in mind
that you don't like.

Speaker 2 (49:22):
Okay, So they kick off Charlie Jones' house call. Love
that saves me. I'm like, oh my goodness, we end
up going to win the game. Yeah, that was probably
my worst one. That's the only one that sticks with me,
that one, And then I want to say my second
one is probably the Nebraska game last year, game winning kick.

(49:44):
A little bit of a low snap. Laces were good. Yeah,
got the kick up, it went it through, But that
was not very fun for me. Not too many people
notice that. I bet you only long snappers or ex
long snappers notice that stuff.

Speaker 1 (49:56):
Yep. That's the nice thing is, you know, no one
really knows, except for like maybe maybe coach and like
your teammates for the specialist room and the holder whoever's
holding notices.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
I remember thanking Tori a million times.

Speaker 1 (50:11):
Oh Dad, I've been there. I've been there. Marshall Kane,
I don't know if you've ever watched a film of
him kick circa twenty fourteen fifteen. He used to yell
at me in the middle of a kick, like he's
taking his steps and he's about to make contact and
he's like, fuck you Clover, like in the game because

(50:33):
Dylan Kidd, our holder at the time, had to spin
it because I gave him a six or whatever. Yeah,
but yeah, the holders are saviors.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
They are havevn't tied. This past year too has been
awesome too because he just held for us. Yeah, and
like having him like, like what was nice about it
was so like having Toy for three years. That first
year though, there was a different punter and different holder,
so I was able to find the different guy. But

(51:01):
then for two years it was Tory was the holder
and the punter. He's focusing on punts. We're right in
the edge of range, like could be getting a field
goal and I'm like, I want to get a field
goal stamp, and Tory's like, no, I'm getting ready to punt.
So it's like mm hm. But we definitely like worked
that out like a lot where it was like because Tory,
I think got to the point where it was like
I'd rather get a hold real quick than a punt

(51:21):
because he was.

Speaker 1 (51:22):
Sure he started to feel more confident.

Speaker 2 (51:25):
Yeah. Yeah, but like just like finding that that rhythm
on the sideline with Tye. This past year has been
awesome because like there'll be times where it'll be like,
like pregame, I'll go up to droom, like what are
your lines each way? So we know like what the
line is for the punt field goals, and ty would
have it down and like the second we'd get the
first down, I'd turn around and I would have a

(51:45):
football in his hand and we'd already be writing a stamp.
I'm like, this is all that, Like this is great smooth. Yeah,
that's been awesome this past year as well.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
When did you give me a couple of snaps or reps?
Could be could be shorter long where you specifically remember
I feel a little bit more pressure on this one,
Like I'm thinking about this one a little bit more so.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
Last year in Sembrasko, that game winning field goal, Yeah,
that was one where I was like.

Speaker 1 (52:15):
Which, by the way, everybody just gets one of those.
That's my joke now is if you're a special at Iowa,
you just get a game winning field goal.

Speaker 2 (52:21):
Yeah, So that was that was probably like one of
my I wouldn't say first ones, but it's like, yeah,
this comes down to this right here. And then Minnesota
in twenty two. This one was crazy where we had
like the funnel recovery that got called back or whatever,
and we get down like the two yard Oh yeah,

(52:41):
so we get down to the two yard line and
we need to kick a game winning fiegal yeah, and
we go out there and it's freezing cold, like it
is like two degrees feels like negative ten.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
And you can try to describe it, but I'm probably
the only one who's gonna understand it. How hard it
is to snapple football when it's cold. It's people just
don't get it.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
No, Like, So what was crazy about that Minnesota game
was we go out there to kicked the game and
you field goal snap, the ball kick goes up, the
whistle blew before it. We called the timeout. Hate that,
And it's like negative ten feels like negative ten. So
like we book it to the benches to warm up
because we're sitting out there and we're like like we

(53:22):
got to go out and do.

Speaker 1 (53:22):
This because you've been coat the whole time, Like.

Speaker 2 (53:24):
Yeah, coat on bench, coat and legs, like we're all
snuggled up on the bench together. But then it's like
that first one I was like nervous for but did
a good snap, and then the second one I was like,
I literally just did this.

Speaker 1 (53:36):
Yeah, when you get a ramp, it always feels better.

Speaker 2 (53:39):
Yeah, And then I was like, I'm not nervous at all.
And that was the same thing that kind of happened
in the nebrask game this year as they iced us
and we got the snap off, and then I was like, oh,
I just did this, like.

Speaker 1 (53:50):
Yep every time, And dude, you're always looking for that
high You're like, hey, we're snapping this anyway because we
need a little We went a little look here.

Speaker 2 (53:56):
Because like Drew's like, if they blow the whistle, like snap, fuck,
I'm still gonna want that ball yup, yup.

Speaker 1 (54:03):
Yes, sir. I tell the fans all the time. I'm like,
those guys are snapping it. They're gonna get it off
no matter what the ref is. Gonna have to step
in front and stop it physically because those guys are
gonna get a rap because once you get a look
and you get a feel, now you're just repeating exactly
what you just did, and it makes it one hundred
times easier. Were there any backed up like on the

(54:23):
two on the one on your own?

Speaker 2 (54:25):
I had one. I think I'm like the four, the
fun You can get any of those, nothing like two back.
But there was one where it was and it goes
Michigan State. We're in the north end zone and this
is one where Coop had that power on the game
basically for us. Yeah, and we're like on like the
eight and we're like all right, we're doing tight plug,

(54:47):
like we need to get this catch ball get out
and we're in the north end zone. And with having Tory,
this was one negative of having Toy is you go
out and run on the field and the whole crowd
it starts cheering.

Speaker 1 (54:59):
Yeah, you can't hear anything, and that end zone out here.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
Don't hear anything. So we're in the north end zone
and it's on the shift call and I don't I
don't hear it because I'm.

Speaker 1 (55:07):
You guys didn't have you guys didn't have like a
dude when we did it. I I just told him, hey,
just just just step, just move your leg and I'll
go on that.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
So it was a shift call, I mean the sam
or the mic linebackers like four yards away from me,
so it's like I should be able to hear it. Yeah,
we have two guys in the gun on the left
and like the strong garden left both like turn and go. Yeah,
and then the Sam who's right behind me is like
snap the ball, snap the ball with some other language
in there. Yeah, I just rip the snap. Never called

(55:38):
a false start, but we're like.

Speaker 1 (55:42):
That one.

Speaker 2 (55:43):
Yeah, like that was lucky.

Speaker 1 (55:45):
Yeah, there's a couple some of those timing issues happen.
It's just like I don't know what I can't do anything.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
Like it got to a point too this year with
like Harrold where I was like I look at him
be like you gotta wave your hand like I.

Speaker 1 (55:57):
Can't, which is cool because you're like, dude, this is
environment is sick. But also I don't want to like
I definitely don't want to get a flag here. So yeah,
so you're you're you've ben worked with Coles. What do
you got you're going to, like, h what are they called,
like a zon or camp? You're going to that.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
I haven't decided yet on that one.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
Okay, is there like the Coles uh at least showcase?
Is that in Arizona still or do.

Speaker 2 (56:24):
They do that in Texas Arizona?

Speaker 1 (56:26):
Okay, I went to that one any other ones.

Speaker 2 (56:29):
And then the Senior Special showcase I'm going to down
and uh.

Speaker 1 (56:32):
I saw that was on Twitter yep. And what is that?
Is that like a that's.

Speaker 2 (56:37):
Kind of that's kind of a new thing they have.
I think there's six nappers, six punters, six kickers, or
it might be more than that. I don't know, but
it's like a three four day long thing that you
just get paired up with a punter and kicker and
go do a whole bnch of different stuff with them.

Speaker 1 (56:53):
Okay, who's it put on by?

Speaker 2 (56:57):
It's this one guy named Jackson. I can't think of
his last name.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
Huh Okay, yeah, that definitely. I don't think was around
when I was there, so.

Speaker 2 (57:04):
I think I just started this year.

Speaker 1 (57:07):
And then other than those, you're just training in I
with city?

Speaker 2 (57:11):
Is it?

Speaker 1 (57:11):
Is it kind of lonely? Or do most guys nowadays
kind of go and find a different, like, you know,
facility where their agent's paying for him to go to
and all that stuff.

Speaker 2 (57:20):
So right now it's just me and Kyler Fisher. That's it.

Speaker 1 (57:24):
Goodness, man, You got the whole so it's just you
and like, like who's running it, like Cody.

Speaker 2 (57:31):
And Cody or Cole or Drew.

Speaker 1 (57:35):
Get the whole weight room to yourself. Yeah, it's amazing. Well, dude,
I am like I I cheer for you and and
the guys more than anybody probably, And uh, I want
so badly for another snapper to catch in the NFL
because I know that you can do it, and I

(57:56):
know that you know you can do it. It's all
about just getting that opportunity, and there they just are
so far and few between. So I hope it all
works out. Man. I'm excited to keep following you, and
I appreciate you coming on.

Speaker 2 (58:10):
Yep, thanks appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (58:12):
Yeah, no problem. Thank you everybody for listening. Luke Elkin
got to that's the most you've ever heard of Luke
Elkin for a good reason, because this guy didn't mess
anything up over his career. Oh I know, one last question,
what do we got Ike Spelts coming in? Tell me?
Tell me? Are we are we in good hands?

Speaker 2 (58:32):
I like him?

Speaker 1 (58:33):
Okay, I think I I helped out with a camp
the year before he came in, and I met him
at the camp and he was like the clear best
snapper there. Yeah, and I kind of like told Woods
that because Woods offered and he's like, hey, what do
you think. I'm like, I don't know. This one guy
probably has the only potential here, and all of a
sudden he's on the roster and I think he's the
guy like there, I don't know if there's a lot
of competition. Was it just you and him this year?

Speaker 2 (58:56):
Yep? Just me and him? So ever since, ever since
that first year, always been two snappers.

Speaker 1 (59:01):
Yeah, i'd be there. Well, and now with the roster limits,
yeah don't. I don't know if you're getting more than
two snappers.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
Ever again, Yeah, I don't know either.

Speaker 1 (59:10):
Did you make any nil money?

Speaker 2 (59:13):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (59:14):
Like, uh, did you make any from You don't have
to tell me numbers, but that little smirk makes me
maybe you want to throw up because I think you
made more than I would have liked to known. Uh
did you Was it all from like the charity side
of things like for the for that stuff? Or did
you actually get any like deals like were you able
to do any like social posts or anything like that?

Speaker 2 (59:35):
As mostly through swarm? Okay, but that that was it.

Speaker 1 (59:39):
I'll have you tell me the figure off off air, okay,
uh luke ALC and everybody, you're gonna see him in
the league. I promise, somebody just has to give this
guy a chance. He'll be snapping in the league and
I'll be jealous of two guys. Hey, thanks for listening
to the show. If you want more, you can check
us out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube by searching
Washed Up walk Ons. And if you're interested in supporting
the show, head over patreon dot com slash washed Up

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