Could TCU football produce another NFL long snapper? Antonio Ortiz hopes so
TCU football has a proud history of producing long snappers. Seriously.
The Horned Frogs have had a couple of long snappers win Super Bowl rings this century. Jared Retkofsky won a ring with the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2008 season and then Clint Gresham was part of the Seattle Seahawks’ championship team during the 2013 season.
Antonio Ortiz is hoping to become the Frogs’ next Gary Patterson era snapper to experience NFL success.
“Two snappers that Coach P has coached have won Super Bowls. I’m just trying to follow in their footsteps,” Ortiz said, smiling. “My dream is to get on the wall in the indoor.”
Ortiz is referring to the football team’s indoor practice facility that boasts oversized images of every player who is playing in the NFL. It’s a dream that isn’t too far fetched but difficult to attain.
First, there are only 32 long snapper jobs in the NFL. And it’s not exactly a position with a ton of turnover. Former Cowboys long snapper L.P. Ladouceur, for instance, kept his job with the team for 16 seasons (2005-2020). Former Detroit Lions long snapper, Don Muhlbach of Texas A&M, had his job for 17 seasons (2004-2020).
But Ortiz is ready to give it his best shot. He went through TCU’s Pro Day and took part in the 2021 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. He had a successful snapping career with the Frogs, too, playing in all 44 games with a clean slate of snaps the past three seasons.
“Ever since I started snapping, I’ve wanted to play in college. Then, when I knew I had a chance to go to college, thinking about going to the NFL was a huge dream of mine,” said Ortiz, who came to TCU from Benedictine College Preparatory in Richmond, Virginia.
“Being this close right now is a really big honor and I just want to give everything I have to go to the next level. If it doesn’t happen, that’s OK. I just want to make sure I have no regrets going in and just give it everything I have.”
Ortiz, who checked in at 6-foot-4, 247 pounds on Pro Day, is rated as the seventh-best long snapper in this year’s draft class by Dane Brugler of The Athletic.
For Ortiz, the biggest hurdle isn’t the NFL ball size being slightly bigger (he says the NFL ball is easier to snap compared with the college ball), but it’s on the blocking front. In college, he had a free release down the field but has to be able to block effectively in the pro game.
“The blocking is what separates you the most,” he said. “That transition going from snap-to-block is really different compared to snap-and-release. Everybody can snap going into the NFL. It’s just a matter of if you can block or not. That’s the most important thing.”
