Patriots HC Bill Belichick Goes On Rant About Unheralded Position

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick shared his thoughts on long snapper Joe Cardona and let’s just say it was a little rant.

Ben Volin from the Boston Globe asked Belichick about the power of an exclusive long snapper position when compared to training several players for the job.  

“Is it that hard? It’s a pretty hard job, yeah,” coach B said September 6 press conference. “It’s a pretty hard job. He not only has to snap, so that gets into whether you’re a blind snapper and you look at the rush and just snap the ball or whether you’re a look-back snapper and snap it. And then after the snap you have to look up and recognize what’s happened and make the proper block. There’s just a much higher level of skill, which there should be. But yeah, I think it’s a pretty tough position.”

Cardona signed a four-year deal worth $6.3 million with $2.6 million guaranteed. The Patriots got him in 2015 and he was on two championship winning teams.

Belichick dropped his rant for a reason

The Patriots head coach has been around for a really long time and he’s been watching long snappers do their magic on the field.

“I would say honestly during the course of my coaching career has traveled that long and winding road from when I came into the league,” Belichick said. “First of all, there were no long snappers, but the specialist — the kickers and the punters — were frequently positioned players. And that’s where they came from in college as well.

“So a lot of the good college punters and placekickers also played a position, and then as time evolved, starting with like [Pete] Gogolak and guys like that .. they specialized in kicking, and then you had some of the punters that specialized.”

Gogolak kicked for the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants. Belichick witnessed his brilliance on the field. He also watched Tom Tupa, Danny White, and Gino Cappelletti, discussing their power during games. These were rewarded with a high-profile position all while kicking and punting.