Upside Down Football: An Inside Look at Long Snapping in the NFL

(Hardback)

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Description

The long snapper is perhaps the most overlooked and underappreciated position in football. He spends a great deal of his career bent over a football, with a guy either kneeling seven yards behind him or standing back at 15 yards. In a sense, the long snapper has one jobto go unnoticed. If he is noticed, it probably means hes flubbed a snapand for a long snapper, a single mistake can mean instant unemployment. In Upside Down Football: An Inside Look at Long Snapping in the NFL, Ted Kluck shares the unique stories of these often-unseen high-pressure athletes. To fully explore the art of long snapping, Kluck attempts to perfect his own long-snapping technique, enlisting NFL snapping super-agent Kevin Gold and former longtime NFL snapper Justin Snow to help him. He also learns from elite NFL special teams coach Gary Zauner, experiences the camp circuit via snapping guru Chris Rubio, trains with snapping coach Nolan Owen, and talks with Green Beret and college snapper Nate Boyer. Upside Down Football features in-depth interviews with players, coaches, agents, and scouts, introducing the reader to men who have snapped at the games highest level and to those who helped them get there. NFL and college football fans, along with long snappers of all levels, will enjoy this entertaining and enlightening perspective on the most underappreciated position in football.

Reviews

Upside Down Football presents information about the most overlooked, yet most critical position on the field. As popular as American football is, there are positions and players who can fly under the radar. For instance, can the reader of this review name the long snapper on a favorite football team In the small world of long snapping, players have one jobget the ball (quickly and accurately) into the hands of the punter or kicker. Kluck, an award-winning author and sports writer, interviews high-profile players, coaches, instructors, and camp directors to provide a thorough background of the football position and subject. He provides many personal accounts and experiences, while taking the reader along on his journey and allowing a look into the world of long snapping. Kluck brings his experience as a writer, teacher, former college and semi-professional long snapper, and lover of football. The author adds an interesting dimension to the book. He covers the impact of social media and internet influences, and how they have changed the recruiting and marketing of athletes directly to colleges, universities, and professional teams. This is the book to read for an in-depth look into the world of a long snapper. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; faculty and general readers. * CHOICE *
Author Ted Kluck has just written a book that is easily one of my favorites.The title, Upside Down Football: An Inside Look at Long Snapping in the NFLmay instantly reveal why it is so special.... Klucks book does a great job of explaining all aspects of the modern snapping industry, from high school and college to the professional level.The book will be of value and interest to anyone connected to long snapping at any level orthat want to learn moreabout this fascinating position and those who occupy it at the highest levels. * Longsnap.com *
The book does an excellent job in looking at the real men who are striving for their place on the field. It is an easy and informative read and [we] recommend this book for any library. * Gridiron Greats *
Upside Down Football provides an in-depth look into the trials and tribulations of trying to make it as a long snapper in the NFL: its like being elected president. Its that rare. Kluck aptly chronicles the efforts players go through at any levelyouth league, college, semi-pro, and professionaland reveals just how difficult it is to be a professional specialist. This books features well-written testimonies from agents, coaches, and players who offer their input and advice for anyone trying to succeed in this highly competitive field. -- Eugene Lee, sports agent, MBK Sports Management Group
Ted KlucksUpside Down Footballis a Plimptonian rocket to that unexplored region of football known as the Planet of the Long Snappers. Unique and deeply personal, this engaging book gives the reader an inside look at the highly-specialized athletes who inhabit this world and the agents, coaches, and trainers who orbit them. -- Mark Durr, Editor-in-Chief of Coffin Corner, official magazine of the Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA)
Ted Klucks Upside Down Football gives such a factual look at the unique and oftentimes bizarre world of a professional long snapper as well as the mental fortitude that plays into the position. As a journeyman punter in the NFL for eight years and having an up close view of these OCD/perfectionists, I must say that by Ted turning this story upside down it most certainly lands on its feet Right Side Up! -- Glenn Pakulak, former punter, New Orleans Saints and University of Kentucky

Author Bio

Ted Kluck is an award-winning author and sports writer whose work has appeared in ESPN the Magazine, Sports Spectrum Magazine, and ESPN.com. He is the author of multiple books, including Facing Tyson: Fifteen Fighters, Fifteen Stories (2006), Game Time: Inside College Football (2007), Paper Tiger: One Athletes Journey to the Underbelly of Pro Football (2007), Robert Griffin III: Athlete, Leader, Believer (2013), and Three-Week Professionals: Inside the 1987 NFL Players Strike (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015). Kluck played a season of professional indoor football as a long snapper and coached high school football.