New Long Snapper Takes Unusual Path to Packers

New Packers long snapper Matt Orzech has come a long ways since air-mailing his first snap in college to winning a Super Bowl ring with the Rams.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
May 8, 2023 4:55 PM EDT
Original:
May 8, 2023

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

Note: This story was published on March 17. The Packers on May 8 released their incumbent long snapper, Jack Coco.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – New Green Bay Packers long snapper Matt Orzech lived in Wisconsin for about five years as a kid.

“I have a little bit of Wisconsin in me,” he said after flying to Green Bay and signing his contract on Thursday.

When Orzech was a student at Hartland North Elementary School in Hartland, Wis., from about age 4 through age 9, he had no idea that he’d somebody be a long snapper for the Packers. In fact, being an NFL long snapper wasn’t even on his radar for most of his college career.

At Paloma Valley High School in Menifee, Calif., Orzech was a receiver on the football team and a pitcher on the baseball team. During his junior year – the key year in the recruiting process – he suffered a significant concussion. That caused the big schools to turn their interest elsewhere. So, he chose Division II Azusa Pacific, where he got the opportunity to play his first love, baseball, as well.

Late in his freshman camp, about a week before a season-opening showdown at Division II powerhouse Grand Valley State, the coaches were worried about having only one snapper on the roster. So, head coach Victor Santa Cruz and special teams coordinator Gabe Higard pulled Orzech aside.

“He called me over and was like, ‘Hey, you’re going to play baseball here, right?’ I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ It was a weird question in the middle of practice. He was like, ‘You pitch?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I do.’ He said, ‘You throw pretty hard?’ I said, ‘Hard enough to pitch in college.’ He’s like, ‘Well, you ever long snapped before?’ I was like, ‘I don’t even know what that is, Coach, honestly.’”

After a quick explanation, the coaches continued, “‘I want you to give it a try because it’s kind of like pitching but between your legs and upside down.’ So, I gave it a shot in the middle of practice and he told me, ‘Take the next week and only snap. Don’t worry about tight end anymore because you’re a freshman and low on the depth chart but we really need a backup snapper. So, give it your all for the next week or so.’”

The day before the team flew out to Allendale, Mich., for the game, Orzech was told he would not be the backup snapper. Instead, he would be the No. 1 snapper. A few minutes into the game, Orzech jogged on the field and Azusa Pacific lined up to punt.

“I’ve never been more stressed out for a game in my life than I was for that first snap,” Orzech recalled.

Disaster struck as he sent the ball over the punter’s head.

“Proud moment for me,” he said with a laugh. “Our first punt was on our own 20-yard line and it was all just a blur. I remember snapping it, taking a few snaps and hearing the crowd going crazy.

“I turned around and saw our punter scrambling in the end zone with the ball, punted it and it rolled all the way to their 5-yard line. It was a boomer. I think it’s what got me out of jail, really, and that’s why I’m here. Our head coach [Santa Cruz] gave me a high-five, ‘Way to get the first one out of your system.’ It hasn’t happened since.”

Orzech was the snapper throughout his collegiate career. Tight end, though, was his main focus.

“I took [snapping] kind of seriously throughout my college career because I was more fired up about playing tight end and winning a job because of teenage ego,” he said. “You want to be the guy. You want to score touchdown passes, not snap field goals and punts.”

It wasn’t until his senior year that the NFL popped onto his radar like a bolt of lightning.

With NFL scouts attending an early-season practice, special teams coordinator Will Rodriguez – who arrived at Azusa Pacific following an 11-year stint with the Los Angeles Rams – delivered a life-changing message.

“He said, ‘They’re here to watch you snap.’ That was a big lightbulb moment. I’m like, ‘Woah.’

“He was like, ‘Hey, if you give this long-snapping thing a real serious shot, you might be able to do it in the NFL.’ That was really the first time that I gave it serious thought to really go for it. I committed myself to it and got an awesome agent in Paul Sheehy. I got my first call from an NFL team, which blew my mind, then got my first workout and just kind of progressively climbed the ladder of insane events for a dream I didn’t know I had.”

An undrafted free agent in 2019, Orzech was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ snapper as a rookie. After spending 2020 on the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad, he snapped for the Rams the last two seasons. That includes 2021, when the Rams won the Super Bowl.

Nervous as he was to snap against Grand Valley, how about against the Cincinnati Bengals with the NFL championship on the line?

“Surprisingly, no,” he said. “Something about it – maybe it’s because we were in our own stadium, we were in our beds the whole week – but I was in my own head about keeping it as another game, another snap. Having [All-Pro] Johnny Hekker around, who had been in the Super Bowl before and is a superstar as a punter, him keeping all of us grounded was insanely helpful.”

With three years of snapping experience and a Super Bowl ring, why did he choose the Packers, where he will challenge incumbent Jack Coco for the starting job, as his free-agent destination?

“There was definitely the allure of the history and culture of the team,” he said. “I talked to a few guys that I know that played here in the past that loved the organization from the top down and sang their praises.

“On top of that, there’s a whole clan of Orzechs in the Wisconsin era that are over the moon right now to be able to wear green and yellow again after being forced to wear other teams’ logos over the last few years.”