Tag: Patrick Mannelly Award

Notre Dame Football: Top Rated Long Snapper Alex Peitsch Signs with Irish

Peitsch committed to Notre Dame back in April and figures to be on the field right away replacing the great John Shannon.

Notre Dame may be regarded as “Tight End U” by some but “Long Snapper U” is starting to make a lot of sense for the Catholic university in South Bend.

Last week John Shannon was awarded the inagural Patrick Mannelly Award for the best long-snapper in the nation.  It was also announced that Shannon would be forgoing his final year of eligibility at Notre Dame and instead beginning his career in law-enforcement.

Worries at long snapper for the Fighting Irish?

Not so fast.

Alex Peitsch of St. John’s College High School in our nation’s capital signed his letter of intent Wednesday to play football at Notre Dame.

Peitsch is ranked by 247Sports as the number-one long-snapper in all of the 2020 recruiting class.

Peitsch committed to Notre Dame back in April and figures to be on the field right away replacing the great John Shannon.

 

Notre Dame Football: John Shannon Wins Inaugural Patrick Mannelly Award

John Shannon is a name only the most doe-hard of Notre Dame fans are probably familiar with even though he has played in every Fighting Irish game over the last three seasons.

John Shannon is a name only the most doe-hard of Notre Dame fans are probably familiar with even though he has played in every Fighting Irish game over the last three seasons.

His most recent game saw him get awarded the game ball because of a huge play he made in determining the victorious outcome at Stanford.

That wasn’t the only hardware Shannon would bring home in 2019 however as Saturday night he was awarded the inaugural Patrick Mannelly Award for being the best senior long snapper in the nation, edging out Liam McCullough of Ohio State and Steven Wirtel, Iowa State.

Taken from the official award website is the following:

Long Snappers don’t make the cover of the program. They’re rarely asked to sign autographs. You don’t typically see them being interviewed before the game. But Long Snappers aren’t driven by these things. Quiet, selfless, focused and courageous, the Long Snapper is content to trade conventional superstardom for the opportunity to do one job very well.  – PatrickMannellyAward.com

Upon reading that I find it fitting Shannon won the award on Saturday of all days. Just hours earlier Brian Kelly announced that Shannon would be passing up his fifth year of eligibility at Notre Dame. It wasn’t because he is trying to make it on an NFL roster, however, it’s because he’s beginning his career in law enforcement.

New Award Names Notre Dame Senior A Finalist

Because aside from a speed bump late against Virginia Tech, he hasn’t messed up in those 37 games.

John Shannon has started the last 37 games for Notre Dame, a stretch that has seen the Irish go 31-6 and compete in the College Football Playoff.

But chances are unless you’re an absolute diehard fan, that you don’t recognize the name.

That’s because aside from a speed bump late against Virginia Tech, he hasn’t messed up in those 37 games.

John Shannon is Notre Dame’s long-snapper and despite having a remaining year of eligibility, it appears he may be headed to the FBI or Secret Service instead of returning to Notre Dame for one final season in 2020.

Before Shannon ultimately makes that decision though, he’ll go down as one of the best in the country at the specific task as Monday saw him named a finalist for the inaugural Patrick Mannelly Award.

Joining Shannon as finalists are Liam McCullough of Ohio State and Steven Wirtel of Iowa State.

The winner of the inaugural award will be announced December 14 in Lake Bluff, Illinois.

Patrick Mannelly is widely-regarded as the best long-snapper of the modern NFL era (Award websites words, not mine). The longtime Chicago Bears long snapper played more games as a Bear (245) than any other player in history.