It’s without question the most specific and specialized job in football, and it takes unconventional skill and a special type of commitment. Long snappers might have one of the most interesting jobs in sports, and at the professional level, there are only 32 positions available, making it one of the hardest gigs to land.
Danny Aiken came to John Shuman’s Fork Union’s post graduate football team in 2006 where he began to focus on the position in addition to his role as a tight end. During his high school career, the Roanoke native played at Cave Spring where he was a quarterback and led the Knights to a 10-2 record as a senior, but was unable to aquire college offers at that position.
After one season with the Blue Devils, Aiken was able to grab an offer from Virginia as a long snapper. Over the the four games Aiken appeared in each and every Cavalier’s game including his freshman year in 2007 where he was flawless on 134 of his 140 snaps. By 2010 many NFL scouts had Aiken ranked as the top long snapping prospect in the country as can snap at a ball up to 45 miles an hour and on average, can put the ball into a punters hand in 0.67 seconds. As a result, when the NFL lockout finished up this summer, Aiken was scooped up by the Buffalo Bills.
In five years Aiken went trom a quarterback at Cave Springs to now a long snapper in the NFL, with his path getting laid out in front of him thanks to his time at Fork Union.
