Punters are people too, they say, but we also must grudgingly admit that so are long snappers, such as Christian Kuntz of the Pittsburgh Steelers. A three-year veteran, Kuntz is actually quite a personable guy. He makes frequent appearances on Cameron Heyward’s podcast and is well-integrated into that locker room.
And yet he takes the field knowing that every snap could be his last, just by the very nature of the position he plays. While he makes good money in relative terms, Kuntz and all long snappers are the working class of the NFL. They receive the lowest pay and have the worst job security.
“I’ve been through a lot, so that breakthrough moment, it didn’t even feel real. It still really doesn’t feel real to me, if I’m completely honest,” he said recently about finally making a roster in Pittsburgh in 2021 during a guest appearance on the Iceman podcast with Brett Arkelian.
“I’m just working my tail off to stay in the league now. I try to keep it as mellow as you can,” Kuntz continued. “Our jobs are one snap at a time. These contracts don’t mean anything. You mess up, you mess up. We’re probably gonna lose our job anyway, no matter what they’re paying you. We’re on a one-snap contract every time.”
Kuntz is right. He just signed a new three-year contract, but that really doesn’t mean a thing. While he received a $325,000 signing bonus, he is earning the veteran minimum in each year. Honestly, $325,000 isn’t even the equivalent of what would be allowed on three separate one-year Veteran Salary Benefit deals, so arguably he took less than he could make.
But that’s partly because he understands that his job isn’t just year to year, it’s week to week. If a long snapper screws up, he has a strong chance of losing his job the next day. There are plenty of long snappers looking for a job, after all. Kuntz was in that position for many years.
He went undrafted out of Duquesne all the way back in 2017. As I already mentioned, he didn’t make the 53-man roster until 2021. That’s four years of, at best, practice squad work. He even played in the XFL in 2020.
Kuntz unseated Kameron Canaday for the long snapper job in Pittsburgh in 2021, which was arguably a minor upset. That illustrates just how transient long snapper jobs can be. The fact is, few people even care one way or the other.
Indeed, the job may have come down to the Steelers’ decision to change punters that year. They drafted Pressley Harvin III in the seventh round, who narrowly edged out incumbent veteran Jordan Berry. Canaday worked with Berry all that offseason while Kuntz worked with the rookie, and the two new guys made it.
Kuntz has by and large been a reliable long snapper, though an undistinguished and not irreplaceable one. Watching him talk about snapping, however, I see a genuine dedication to his craft and a desire to improve. Here’s to hoping he works well with new punter Cameron Johnston.
