Best NFL Long Snappers of All Time: The Invisible Specialists

No broadcast ever cuts to a replay of a good snap. That is the whole trick of the job: do it right and nobody knows your name. The best NFL long snappers of all time — players like Patrick Mannelly, Steve DeOssie, and Don Muhlbach — built their reputations on being invisible, delivering thousands of clean snaps over careers spanning 15 years or more. Do it wrong once, in the wrong game, and you become a trivia answer forever.

What makes a great long snapper

From the stands, the job looks like a formality between plays. Up close, it demands a strange combination of skills:

• Speed. A punt snap has to reach the punter 7-8 yards back in roughly 0.7 to 0.8 seconds; a field-goal snap covers 15 yards to the holder.
• Accuracy. A spiral that drifts even slightly off-center forces the punter or holder to adjust, and the whole operation collapses.
• Blocking. The instant the ball leaves his hands, the snapper has to turn and engage a gunner already charging at him — all while recovering from an upside-down snapping motion.
• Consistency. Across 17 regular-season games plus playoffs, there is no such thing as an off week. One miss can end a season or a career.

The greatest NFL long snappers

These are the specialists most often cited by evaluators and outlets like Pro Football Reference as the best to ever play the position.

Patrick Mannelly (1998–2013, Chicago Bears) is widely considered the greatest of all time. He was the first player ever drafted specifically as a long snapper and spent all 16 of his NFL seasons in Chicago, becoming the franchise’s all-time leader in seasons (16) and games played (245). By Bears records, he snapped the ball more than 2,000 times without a botched snap.

Steve DeOssie (1984–1996) is ranked first among long snappers by Hall of Fame voter Rick Gosselin. A linebacker who became a premier snapping specialist across teams including the Cowboys, Giants, and Patriots, he won a Super Bowl and helped establish the modern template for the position. His son Zak later followed him into the same role.

Don Muhlbach (2004–2020, Detroit Lions) anchored the Lions’ snapping duties for 17 seasons and 260 games, the second-longest tenure in franchise history. He was a two-time Pro Bowler (2012, 2018) and the first long snapper in Lions history to earn that recognition.

Zak DeOssie (2007–2019, New York Giants) played 13 seasons for the Giants, earning two Pro Bowl selections and winning two Super Bowls. Reliable and durable, he was a cornerstone of New York’s special teams for well over a decade.

Trey Junkin (1983–2002) played 19 seasons across six teams and appeared in roughly 281 games, one of the longest careers ever at the position — a résumé unfairly overshadowed by a single infamous snap.

At-a-glance: NFL long snapper greats

Player	Career	Team(s)	Notable Achievement
Patrick Mannelly	1998–2013	Chicago Bears	16 seasons, 245 games, first snapper ever drafted
Steve DeOssie	1984–1996	Cowboys, Giants, Patriots, others	Super Bowl champ; ranked No. 1 by Gosselin
Don Muhlbach	2004–2020	Detroit Lions	17 seasons; 2 Pro Bowls (2012, 2018)
Zak DeOssie	2007–2019	New York Giants	2 Pro Bowls; 2 Super Bowls
Trey Junkin	1983–2002	Six teams	19 seasons; ~281 games

The Trey Junkin story

Junkin snapped for nearly two decades and did it well almost every week. None of that is what people remember. In the January 2003 NFC Wild Card game — the 2002 postseason — the 41-year-old Junkin was coaxed out of retirement days earlier by the Giants to replace an injured snapper. With the game on the line, he botched a snap on a potential game-winning 41-yard field goal in a 39-38 loss to the 49ers, a game New York had led 38-14. It was the final snap of his career, and it became the headline of an otherwise durable 19-year résumé.

How special teams coaches value the position

Special teams coordinators guard the long snapper spot more closely than almost any other roster slot. Once a team finds someone reliable, they leave him alone. Swapping snappers mid-season means rebuilding the timing between snapper, holder, and kicker from scratch, and there is no bye week long enough to make that repetition happen safely before a Sunday. That is why the greats — Mannelly, Muhlbach, both DeOssies — held their jobs for well over a decade with a single team apiece.

The modern era: top long snappers of 2024–2026

Long snapping now gets specialized attention that did not exist a generation ago. Kids commit to the position as college freshmen, and regional showcases and national combines rank snapper prospects the way scouts rank quarterbacks.

As of 2026, Andrew DePaola of the Minnesota Vikings is the most decorated active specialist, with three consecutive Pro Bowl selections (2022, 2023, and 2024). Ross Matiscik of the Jacksonville Jaguars has earned multiple All-Pro nods, and names like Matt Orzech, Trent Sieg, and Scott Daly consistently appear in Pro Bowl voting. The players arriving in the NFL today show up with mechanics polished enough to start in Week 1 — the natural endpoint of a role that has evolved from an afterthought into a true craft.

The bottom line

The best long snappers earn their reputations in a currency no highlight reel captures: years of clean, unremarkable snaps. Mannelly, Steve DeOssie, and Muhlbach define the historical standard, DePaola leads the current field, and Junkin’s cautionary tale explains why teams treat the position with such care. When a long snapper is doing his job perfectly, you will never hear his name — and that is exactly the point.