Special teams are often forgotten when discussing the most important aspects of a football team, and beyond that, long snapper is maybe the least talked about position in all of football. It’s a position filled with unsung heroes, players who have a crucial role to play in one of the game’s three phases and aren’t widely recognized for their efforts. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, that player is Christian Kuntz, a local product out of Duquesne who has been with the team since 2020.
Kuntz may not get much honor or glory for what he does, but he does it well. He helps to provide consistency for the Steelers’ special teams unit alongside kicker Chris Boswell. In an appearance on the Iceman Podcast, Kuntz was asked to help clear up one of the biggest misconceptions about long snappers.
”I think people think that long snappers in the NFL can’t get hit anymore because they changed the rule that they can’t line up directly over you. They can still line up over you if you run an illegal punt formation. Which the Pittsburgh Steelers, well, we used to, but we don’t anymore this year because they changed the rule,” Kuntz said about the NFL making it illegal for a player to be lined up directly over the center on special teams. “If the PP moves, you can illegally line up over a snapper, and also, even if they’re not lining up over you, they’re lining up right on your shoulder and trying to kill you.”
It’s not often that fans get insight into some of the intricacies that go along with special teams, let alone long snapping, so it’s interesting to hear from Kuntz how NFL teams work around certain rules. With certain offensive or defensive penalties, it’s more obvious how players are cheating rules because those plays are seen more. The Special teams unit isn’t on the field as much, or at least they shouldn’t be if the offense is competent, but it makes sense that teams have figured out ways to cut corners there, too.
While it may seem like being a long snapper is one of the easier positions to play in the NFL, Kuntz wants to make it clear that it’s no walk in the park and that they get beat up just as much as other positions.
He continued to speak on what he wanted fans to understand about his position.
“You’re not getting hit in there. There’s no one on a football field that doesn’t get hit, I promise you. The kicker will eventually get hit. The punter will eventually get hit. And we’re in the trenches. Like if you just watch some of the tight-angle film that I wish the public would get, they would see how physical it is and like what actually happens in that small space on a punt. People just have no idea about that,” Kuntz said.
Having a good long snapper is just as important as having a good punter or kicker. The unit needs to act like one well-oiled machine if it doesn’t want to fail. While it doesn’t come with the same amount of glory as playing quarterback or receiver, it is just as physical. Most of the time, the only moments where the casual fan will notice the long snapper are if they do something wrong.
With even more rule changes coming this offseason for special teams, players like Kuntz will have to stay on their toes and adjust on the fly. If the Steelers have a quality special teams unit this year, maybe fans will better appreciate the value a good long snapper brings to the table.
