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April 15, 2003
If you witnessed the Giants’ heartbreaking 39-38 loss to San Francisco in the 2002 playoffs, you probably realize the importance of the long snapper. In the game, 19-year veteran Trey Junkin blotched two snaps for New York, including the potential game-winning field-goal snap, and opened the door for public scrutiny of the behind-the-scenes position. Anonymity is a good thing for a long-snapper – just ask Ryan Childress, who has reliably handled Virginia’s long snapping duties the previous three seasons.
“I think it’s a good thing nobody’s heard of me,” commented Childress, who will be a fifth year next season. “Look at what happened to Trey Junkin. Snappers are given more notice now. I was reading on ESPN.com the other day and the guys are making more money. But I think everybody’s got a job to do and everybody can’t be a big star. I’m just glad I’m out here to help the team.”
Childress has been a consistent force on special teams. After joining the team as a freshman walk-on and red-shirting in 1999, he won the long snapping job during the following training camp. Since then, Childress has churned out perfect spiral after spiral to punters and place-kicking holders. In 2000, during his first year of action, he was good on 62 of 65 attempts to punters, and 42 of 43 place-kicking attempts. Childress followed that near-flawless season with perfection by converting on all 65 punt snaps and six field goal snaps for the 2001 campaign.
Last season, the former walk-on proved that he’s also a factor after the snap, as he led the punting unit with 12 tackles, and was frequently the first man down in punt coverage. He was also a perfect 54 of 54 on field goal and extra point snap attempts, and only came up short a couple times on punt snaps, converting 65 of 67.
If accurate long snapping were the only prerequisite to fielding a top-notch special teams unit, the Cavaliers would rank near the top. Of course, good kicking, punting, blocking, and tackling are also necessary ingredients. Unfortunately for Virginia, kicking and punting experience, or lack there of, has been a concern. Last year, UVa’s two freshman place-kickers, Kurt Smith and Connor Hughes, only connected on 10 of 16 field goal attempts, and misfired on five PAT tries. Despite the kicking woes, improvement was evident as Smith, along with fellow freshman punter Tom Hagan, made the All-ACC freshman team. Now with spring practice underway, the kicking should only get better, especially with the presence of a reliable long snapper.”I think things are going well,” said Childress. “We’ve got a little more experience this year with the first team kickers. Everybody’s got a year under their belt. So I think everything’s a little better than it was last year. Especially with kickers, experience always helps because the more you’re out there the more stuff you see.”
Due to watching a lot of scenarios unfold on the field, including his experience, Childress has been able to lead by example. As the 2003 season looms ahead, he knows what’s expected of him and the special teams unit. “We’re just trying to go out there and be solid,” said Childress, “and show that we’re ready to help gain field position, and score points with the field goal team. Hopefully we’ll win a lot more ball games next year.”