He’s a quirky man doing a quirky job, and he’s dang good at it.
Some football players like to draw attention to themselves by celebrating after big plays, and how can we blame them? So much of football is just painfully grinding away in the trenches until — BOOM! — a big play shifts the momentum of a game. Offensive players can usually point to their individual contributions toward a long touchdown just as defensive players can celebrate how their effort led to a huge sack or a pick-six.
But there is one position in football that never gets to celebrate and only gets noticed when they screw up. At best, players at this position can only do their job. At worst, they can cost their team a game. It’s an often invisible, regularly lonely position.
I’m talking about long snappers.
The most successful long snappers are often the most anonymous. Their names usually only get called when they send a snap skidding on the ground toward the field goal holder or launch one over the punter’s head.
But as Carolina Panthers fans we know the name of our long snapper and it’s for all the right reasons. J.J. Jansen is one of the best long snappers in the NFL. The 33-year-old is a 10-year Panthers veteran and has appeared in all 160 games during his career. He made the Pro Bowl in 2013 and in 2016 Pro Football Focus named him the NFC’s best long snapper.
Jansen is currently three years into a five-year, $5.5 million contract. This represents a good deal for the Panthers as Jansen’s $1.1 million average annual salary ranks 10th among long snappers. Not bad for getting one of the most experienced, consistent players at a highly specialized position.
Since Jansen normally just keeps his head down (literally) and rather anonymously does his job, I thought I’d do a little research to help us all learn a little bit more about him. Based on an interview with Bill Voth, Jansen gives into “wife pressure”, enjoys bands that open for Taylor Swift, and referred to himself and former punter Brad Nortman as “dorks” who “appreciate each other’s nerdiness and dorkiness.”
In a separate interview with Voth, former punter Andy Lee described Triple J as “intuitive with investments.” Jansen then humorously needled kicker Graham Gano for not being part of the “best friends club” that he and Lee had developed.
Jansen comes across as quirky in the few interviews he has done, but what else should we expect? This is a man who has a quirky profession. His only job is to bend over, look between his legs, and sling footballs into the tiny window of a teammate’s waiting hands. He has played 160 games as a Carolina Panther yet most of us wouldn’t recognize him if we were standing behind him in line at the DMV.
The better he does his job, the less his name gets mentioned.
Fortunately for us as Panthers fans, J.J. Jansen keeps a low profile.
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