collaborated on a beer<\/a>. Jon Dorenbos lasted 14 seasons, finished third on \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d while playing for the Eagles and parlayed football, his personal story and sorcery with a deck of cards into a career that whips him around the globe. Gresham wrote a book titled \u201cBecoming\u201d that built some momentum on Amazon \u2026 before Michelle Obama released a memoir with the same title.<\/p>\nDo the job well, you do what you want after. Or not much at all. \u201cI\u2019d say that\u2019s a pretty good option, right?\u201d says Josh Harris, who logged a decade with the Atlanta Falcons and then signed a four-year, $5.6 million deal with the Los Angeles Chargers. \u201cIf you\u2019re able to play long enough and you\u2019re smart enough with what you earn along the way, that\u2019s definitely something that you could do on the back end of it. Hey, I love to play golf. So I see a lot of golf in my future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course there\u2019s a crowd gathering for that. But no one is in a hurry to make room. The Minnesota Vikings\u2019 Andrew DePaola is 38, and over the last three seasons he\u2019s twice been a first-team All-Pro while becoming the first long snapper to make three straight Pro Bowls. Jansen overhauled his workouts at 34 \u2014 \u201cI did more explosive movements in the last five years than I did my whole life,\u201d he says \u2014\u00a0and began velocity training. He then beat out a Mannelly Award winner, Alabama\u2019s Thomas Fletcher, the Panthers drafted to replace him. Jon Weeks, also a spry 39, started hot-needle treatments because, as he puts it, he\u2019s \u201cgonna do it till they tell me I can\u2019t do it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone wants in on the party. Cool. Those inside understand the trick is not getting kicked out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThirty-two jobs in the world,\u201d Christian Kuntz says. \u201cPeople think it\u2019s impossible to get in. It\u2019s damn near impossible to stay in.\u201d<\/p>\n
There always will be a Scott Daly. Three-year starter at Notre Dame, perfect on 253 snaps as a junior and a senior, and no way in. He does not play in the NFL for four seasons. Two springtime professional leagues fold while he\u2019s in them. He gives himself one calendar year. If there\u2019s no call, it\u2019s on to financial advising. Eleven months later, the Detroit Lions call. He takes the job from a 17-year veteran. He loses it to a rookie three years hence. He joins the Bears\u2019 practice squad in preseason 2024, and the starter hurts his back two weeks later.<\/p>\n
Daly now has 21 straight starts for the franchise he grew up on in Chicago\u2019s northern suburbs. The Bears blocked a field-goal attempt to win a Week 4 game against the Las Vegas Raiders after Daly scouted a tell in the other snapper\u2019s delivery. No, he won\u2019t dare buy a house yet. \u201cIt\u2019s surreal,\u201d Daly says. \u201cTo be able to come back here was part of my journey that I didn\u2019t think was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
There always will be a Rick Lovato, too. First player from Old Dominion to appear in the NFL. Bounces between three teams before landing with the Eagles in 2016, replacing Dorenbos, who broke his wrist on the play that tied the franchise\u2019s record for consecutive appearances. Wins two Super Bowls. But he\u2019s cut after that second title. \u201cThat\u2019s the life of a snapper,\u201d he says. When Josh Harris hits the injured list this preseason, the Chargers bring Lovato aboard. He sublets a house in Redondo Beach. He knows he\u2019s not replacing Harris. He\u2019s only trying to show he can still be the guy, for someone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI may not be able to decide when I can hang it up,\u201d Lovato says in early October. \u201cBut maybe I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleven minutes after the trade deadline passes on Nov. 4, the Chargers make an announcement. They\u2019ve placed Rick Lovato, 33, on the reserved\/retired list.<\/p>\n
Harris is healthy. There can only be one. Sometimes the end of the quest is a drive off the cliff.<\/p>\n
And, sometimes, it\u2019s heaven in a burger and beer on a San Diego afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yeah,\u201d Morgan Cox says. \u201cWe all knew who David Binn was, I can tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-1410045449_Edited.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Rocky\u2019s Crown Pub opened its doors in 1977, and it\u2019s as if the rest of the world filled in while it stayed right there.<\/p>\n
Multiple flat-screen televisions and a natty Russian River Brewing IPA on draft somewhat betray the bit. Otherwise, memorabilia on wood-paneled walls ranges from a faded Junior Seau Celebrity Golf Classic poster to a surfboard to musty photos of arcane ex-NFL players inside the door off Ingraham Street. Behind the bar hangs a menu: a hamburger (in two sizes) and a cheeseburger (also in two sizes), plus fries. Thus ends the menu. Food comes in red plastic baskets. Only lately did Rocky\u2019s start taking credit cards.<\/p>\n
Around 1 p.m. on a Tuesday in Pacific Beach, the place hops. In walks a rangy guy who looks like he belongs, both here and to an era. Longish hair escaping beneath the back of his trucker hat, peppery scruff on his cheeks and chin, wearing a black Chevy Camaro T-shirt and shorts.<\/p>\n
This is Dave Binn \u2014 Chargers long snapper for 17 years, husband and father of two, patron saint \u2014\u00a0fresh from the driving range and a workout.<\/p>\n
\u201cBinn Man!\u201d<\/p>\n
The greeting comes from Kris Dielman, a Chargers teammate once upon a time. They both live nearby \u2014 Binn has been in the same house since 1998, up on the south slope of Mount Soledad \u2014\u00a0and their kids go to the same high school. Hard to tell if it\u2019s coincidence they\u2019re both at Rocky\u2019s for weekday lunch or if that\u2019s an even-money bet. After a handshake and small talk, Binn orders a cheeseburger and a Blind Pig IPA and leads the way to a high-top table on the patio.<\/p>\n
Sun\u2019s out. Temperatures in the 70s. No reason to wonder what another life might be like.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I had ideas,\u201d Binn says. \u201cI did a big trip in Costa Rica. I was like, \u2018Dude, we could live off the land here, could open a little bar at the beach.\u2019 There\u2019s f\u2014\u2014 mangoes hanging out on the trees. Surfing. You could get an acre on the beach for like 50 grand back then. That was a thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
He never played quarterback at San Mateo (Calif.) High School like he hoped. He got the long snapper job as a freshman, and it eventually got him a preferred walk-on spot at the University of California. In his second-ever college game, Binn snapped an extra point against Miami (Fla.), picked his head up and got blasted by Russell Maryland. By midseason, though, he was handling punt snaps, too. He discovered he\u2019d been put on scholarship when he collected books for spring semester and asked the woman at the window for athletes if his name was on one of the cards in her box. After some shuffling, she replied: Here you are!<\/p>\n
\u201cI just rolled from there,\u201d Binn says.<\/p>\n
When NFL scouts and coaches passed through, Binn introduced himself. Asked if they might need a snapper. The offensive line coach for the Chargers gave him a look, which precipitated a return visit from the special teams coach. \u201cHe had me do 10 or 15 punt snaps,\u201d Binn recalls, \u201cand every one was dead in the nuts, like perfect.\u201d Around 9 a.m. on the day after the 1994 NFL Draft, a roommate told him the Chargers were calling. Guy named Bobby Beathard. Binn didn\u2019t know who that was. Plus, he was still sleeping. Binn told his buddy to take a message.<\/p>\n
Apparently, the Hall of Fame general manager took no umbrage, because Beathard handed Binn a deal for the rookie minimum of $108,000. He threw in a $2,000 signing bonus. Which was awesome, since Binn was still a college senior about $1,500 in the red. \u201cSo that\u2019s how I got down here,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s how it started.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rest is a symphony.<\/p>\n
He vaguely recalls a movie playing on the bus ride up to Los Angeles to play the Raiders at the Coliseum \u2014 maybe \u201cShaft,\u201d maybe \u201cDolemite\u201d \u2014 but definitely remembers thinking it was an absolute trip that he\u2019d made an NFL team. Same with listening to Stan Brock, a big old tackle near the end of his rope, talk about guys smoking cigarettes in the locker room in the early 1980s. And trying to tackle ciphers like returners Devin Hester and Brian Mitchell. \u201cFor me,\u201d Binn says, \u201cthat was fun.\u201d And going out after a big win and seeing half the team at The Tavern or The Beachcomber. And standing on the field before Super Bowl XXIX, talking with a couple former Cal teammates, wondering how in the world they got here, and one of them calling out to the 49ers\u2019 quarterback to come say hello. This is how Dave Binn met Steve Young.<\/p>\n
Binn settled into that house in Pacific Beach. He started earning real money on the back end, even getting half a million dollars up front on a five-year contract. Wound up as the Chargers\u2019 career-leader in games played with 256 appearances.<\/p>\n
Somewhere in there, he got invited to a charity golf tournament in Canada and flew out on a 737 with Cheech Marin and Bruce Greenwood, among others. Binn and a buddy were headed to their rooms to freshen up for the afterparty when they saw a couple women walking toward the elevator. They held the door. \u201cYou guys hockey players?\u201d Pamela Anderson asked them after stepping inside. After explaining that he played football and continuing the conversation at the festivities that night, Dave Binn dated the star of \u201cBaywatch\u201d for a couple years. (His wife, Jennifer, it\u2019s worth noting, still busts his chops about it.)<\/p>\n
\u201cAll because I threw a ball between my legs,\u201d he says, on the other side of disbelief. Now he lives by the ocean and decides to take the dogs for a run, or not.<\/p>\n
Valhalla in real life.<\/p>\n
Dave Binn takes a bite of his cheeseburger.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good gig,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I never looked at it that way. I think that\u2019s probably why I had the run I did. I thought I was going to get cut every year. Or even week to week. You walk by the general manager\u2019s office, and there\u2019s this big whiteboard. There\u2019s kind of the depth chart of the guys on the team. And then the names on the side. There\u2019s like two or three snappers there that are good. But they\u2019re not on a team. And I know those names.\u201d<\/p>\n
The only way up is to understand how far it is down, and how fast the bottom hits.<\/p>\n
A forever blessing and affliction for his kind. Even the ones already enjoying the breeze.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the outside looking in, it was kind of a pipe dream, right?\u201d Matt Orzech says in a room off Lambeau Field\u2019s auditorium, outfitted in a Green Bay Packers hoodie and sweatpants, outlier and archetype all at once.<\/p>\n
After moving from suburban Milwaukee to southern California for high school, Orzech went to Division II Azusa Pacific University to play tight end and pitch. He became a long snapper because the starter got hurt and the football coach figured Orzech knew how to throw something over and over again. He went to a predraft showcase with no idea how good or bad he was. By chance, Orzech\u2019s first NFL stop was Baltimore, where a veteran named Morgan Cox assured him he had the goods. So he kept chasing.<\/p>\n
Green Bay is his sixth stop. It could be the last. In a league gravitating to athletic snappers for blocking purposes, Orzech is a 6-foot-3, 245-pound former collegiate position player with the best grip strength on the roster. \u201cHe\u2019s like a bear,\u201d Packers punter Daniel Whelan says. \u201cProbably helps having three kids. Dad strength.\u201d<\/p>\n
In August, Orzech became the NFL\u2019s third-highest paid long snapper. Three-year, $4.8 million contract, with a $300,000 signing bonus. \u201cIt\u2019s nuts,\u201d he admits. But it\u2019s his. And, here, it can last, depending on your definition of perfection. \u201cThat was kind of the narrative I was told \u2014 that you could do (long snapping) for a really long time,\u201d Orzech says. \u201cAnd if you do it well and are good at it, you can last as long as you want.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are more famous, more well-compensated players. But they often live football lives under clouds, with hastened expiration dates. The long snapper, and his version of happiness, endures. It\u2019s worth the pursuit. That\u2019s why more and more pursue it. And why the fortunate few hang on as long as they can.<\/p>\n
Orzech did not splurge after signing his new deal. There\u2019s always the chance the next rung on the ladder is greased. But Destiny Orzech strung up balloons and ordered a cake. Her instructions were simple: The cake was meant to commemorate Year 7 for her husband in the NFL.<\/p>\n
They opened the box, and the universe winked back.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re 7!, the cake read.<\/p>\n
It was fine. Cake is cake. The next time Orzech will celebrate is when he reaches a decade in the NFL, and life is all icing then. Nothing is ever guaranteed. But he can see it from here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Behold the long snapper, the last happy man in football, in his place. Across the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 locker…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[3687,8850,1804,6337,8851,349,1321,99,8853],"class_list":["post-305336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-chicago-bears","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-minnesota-vikings","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-sports","tag-tennessee-titans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}