When a rookie is trying to make an NFL team like New York Giants linebacker/safety Jake Carlock, doing all the extra work possible becomes absolutely necessary.
In Carlock’s case, that means going back to his hometown on Long Island and practicing his long-snapping while the Giants have a break before the start of training camp on July 22.
While it might seem mundane to some, long snappers have a very important role in the NFL. After all, how frustrating is it to watch and how damaging is it to a team when the snap on a punt goes awry?
Carlock, an undrafted rookie free agent linebacker who played cornerback in college, will be spending his time practicing by snapping balls into a lacrosse net, according to Tom Rock of Newsday.
So when the Giants rookies are dismissed from the team’s offseason program on Wednesday and check out of the Residence Inn in New Jersey that has been their “home” since early May, Carlock will return to Long Island’s south shore and employ the area’s most ubiquitous sporting equipment in his pursuit of pro football employment. Each day, he will head to a local field, turn his back on one of those metal orange rectangles with the triangle bottom, and fire footballs through his legs into the netting.
Even though Carlock is away from the team, he is still keeping tabs with special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey. Carlock intends to send his coach video footage of him practicing snaps for feedback.
“I was just talking to Coach McGaughey,” Carlock said last week. “He said I need to have the ball in my hand every day just to get familiar with snapping. I’m excited. That’s fun.”
Carlock will also attempt to convert from a corner to an edge rusher who will play with his hand in the dirt.
Carlock graduated from Babylon High School on the south shore and played his college ball at Stony Brook first, but then transferred to LIU Post.
from Giants Wire http://bit.ly/2Xhi6TV
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