— Miami Dolphins 14th-year veteran John Denney first saw his future career path in eighth grade
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His coach was putting together a place-kicking team at practice, and Denney volunteered to try out as a long snapper.
“Whoever was interested lined up and started snapping the ball at a tire hanging from the uprights,” Denney said. “Beginner’s luck, I hit the chain holding the tire and it knocked the tire off the chain. At that age, that got everybody in a frenzy.”
Those cheers might still be the loudest Denney ever received for doing his job. All long snappers toil in anonymity — unless they make a mistake, and Denney doesn’t. That’s why he has been with the Dolphins since 2005, four years longer than any other active player.
At 39 he’s among the oldest players in the NFL.
“It has been a ride, that’s for sure,” Denney said following a recent practice. “I would never guess 14 years later I would still be on this field in the same place. I won the lottery.”
Is the hardest part of the job the drudgery of training camp in steamy South Florida?
“For everybody else, yeah,” Denney said with a chuckle. “My position is different.”
That’s for sure. Long snappers spend much of practice off to the side with the place-kickers and punters, often watching and chatting. It’s not bad duty for $1 million a year
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But as with any specialist, there’s pressure. Denney is expected to be nearly 100 percent accurate, and has been. When asked to tabulate the misfires, Dolphins special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi paused to search his memory.
“In my nine seasons with him, I think we had confusion once on a field goal,” Rizzi said Tuesday. “Brandon Fields (the holder) wasn’t looking, and John hit him in the face mask.
“To have to sit here and think about it is a credit to him.”
And while the 6-foot-5, 242-pound Denney doesn’t log as many snaps as an every-down player, he does run downfield under punts, and wins raves for staying in shape.
“The guy is in unbelievable physical condition,” coach Adam Gase said. “He’s the ultimate pro.”
Denney doesn’t look his age, but he’ll turn 40 in December.
“Wow. I didn’t know he was going to be 40
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That includes snapping drills. Sometimes Denney recruits his 11- and 13-year-old sons to help, and hikes in the backyard.
Like everything else, practice makes perfect.
“If I give you a ball right now and you look between your legs and everything is upside down, it’s not natural,” Denney said. “It’s a matter of working at it to a point it becomes natural.”
Denney played linebacker and offensive line in high school in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was a three-year starter at defensive end for Brigham Young. All the while he groomed his skills as a long snapper, which is how he made the Dolphins’ roster after going undrafted.
He played in every game as a rookie, and each year since he has played in all 16 games — 208 in total. That’s by far a team record for consecutive games
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The streak will likely grow, although Denney has nominal competition in training camp from undrafted rookie Lucas Gravelle. It’s one of the few times the team has brought in another long snapper to compete with Denney, but he said he always feels like he’s fighting for his job.
“Regardless of whether there is another body in camp, they have a list on a board somewhere with the next five best long snappers available,” he said. “It’s not like you’re ever in the clear.”
That accurately describes life in the NFL. As usual, Denney is right on target.
鈥?Former Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin, spurred the shutdown of his former Los Angeles-area high school and was questioned by police after a menacing Instagram post appeared on his account.The post from Martin, who has struggled with mental health issues after a 2013 bullying scandal that shook the NFL, showed a shotgun and referred by name to the private Harvard-Westlake prep school in Los Angeles that he once attended. It also mentioned the Instagram names of two former Dolphins teammates who harassed him, Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey. The post said suicide and revenge were the only options for a victim of bullying.School officials at Harvard-Westlake sent an emergency alert to students and staff early Friday evacuating campus and canceling school.Los Angeles police would say only that they have an individual who they believe is responsible for the incident. They say he was detained, but is not in LAPD custody.Several media outlets, however
Colts Authentic Jerseys , including the Los Angeles Times and KABC-TV, were told by law enforcement sources that the person questioned was Martin.Martin left the Miami Dolphins midseason in 2013 after accusing teammates of bullying. An NFL investigation found that Incognito, Pouncey and teammate John Jerry engaged in persistent harassment directed at Martin.Incognito was suspended for the final eight games and sat out the 2014 season before joining the Buffalo Bills.The NFL’s investigation also found that teammates threatened to rape Martin’s sister, called him a long list of slurs and bullied him for not being “black enough.” Martin is black and Incognito is white.Martin, who underwent counseling for emotional issues after the bullying scandal, posted on Facebook in 2015 that difficulties in football led him to attempt suicide multiple times.Martin, the son of two Harvard graduates, attended Stanford University. After he left the Dolphins, Martin played for the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers. He left the NFL in 2015.Representatives for the Miami Dolphins and the NFL declined to comment. Copyright ©2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed..
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