The Pats Snap That Won SB 38 - Incredible!

[shmessy]

Super Bowl XXXVIII Game-Winning Kick Long Snapper | The MMQB with Peter King

"....That afternoon, Kinchen boarded a flight to Boston. In his tryouts with Dallas, Denver and Pittsburgh, not one head coach had the decency to shake his hand and thank him for coming out. He’d agreed to tryout in New England, with one stipulation for Pioli: “Tell Belichick he better get his sorry butt out of his office and shake my hand or I’m not coming. I don’t care if you keep me or not, he owes me that.......”

".....Looking at the competition, and considering he had played under Belichick in Cleveland for five years, Kinchen was also thinking that this was his tryout to lose. And the next day at the team facility, he nearly did lose it when he launched a short snap over the holder’s head. “I was devastated, I had never done that in my life,” he says. “I had never thrown one that was uncatchable.”


Convinced it was all over, Kinchen waited for his handshake from Belichick with the other hopefuls in the team’s cafeteria. When the coach finally walked in, Kinchen said jokingly, “Bill, you know what is funny? Whoever you sign today is going to have the entire season in the palm of his hand at some point.” Belichick replied matter-of-factly, “Well you know what, you better get ready because it is going to be you.

Kinchen immediately called Lori, who had stepped in as the substitute teacher for his Bible class. “I could hear the kids yelling through the phone when she told them I made the team,” he says......”

You're going to have to read the rest because there are rules against me posting more of this, but it gets even BETTER.

 

[bormio]

Kinchen wrote a good book about this experience called "The Long Snapper" - a good read. Interesting how BB handled this situation - probably not like most Pats fans would expect.

 

[DaBruinz]

I remember that season when they had the 3 long snappers. I think it was after that season that Vrabel started to learn how to long snap..

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

interesting read. Kinchen comes off like a normal guy, scared ****less of the weight of the moment, but somehow got it done.

 

[Tony2046]

Great story. This is what the NFL should build itself around instead of clickbait scandals.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Wow I never knew that. Great stuff here.

 

[bormio]

Brian Kinchen is the answer to a great trivia question - who is the only person to earn both a Super Bowl ring and an NCAA national championship ring during the same football season. He had been coaching long snappers that year at LSU and got a ring when they won the title the month before the Patriots won the SB. Saban was coaching that year at LSU.

 

[nabwong]

Great story. This is what the NFL should build itself around instead of clickbait scandals.

Unfortunately, in the era of "me me me" and 60 seconds of fame, no one reads anymore, except for the headline of course and then claim to know the whole story. We're such a reactionist society.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Great story, well written that somehow I'd missed or forgotten.

 

[irishfanatic]

Great story, thanks for posting.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Awesome story. On the game winner, Carolina's rusher off the (Pats) left end came oh so close to blocking it. You can find sideline replays of John Fox watching in excitement, thinking his guy was going to get there, then watch the excitement disappear as the ball cleared the line. I think his coaches saw something on film to exploit and thought this was the moment they would capitalize. Kinchen picked the right moment to have a perfect snap, especially considering his earlier troubles during the game.

Regards,
Chris

 

[scout]

Great find, thanks!

 

[shmessy]

It's worth mentioning that the writer is someone named Kalyn Kahler. I've never heard of her, but am very impressed. Will definitely look for her work in the future.