Packers Add Super Bowl-Champion Long Snapper

Matt Orzech has three years of NFL long snapping experience, including the last two years with the Los Angeles Rams.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Mar 15, 2023 8:21 PM EDT
Original:
Mar 15, 2023

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have made their first foray into free agency, signing long snapper Matt Orzech.

Orzech snapped for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019 and the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 and 2022. He will add a veteran challenger to Jack Coco, who made the roster as an undrafted free agent last year and handled snapping duties all season.

Orzech went undrafted out of Azusa Pacific and signed originally with the Baltimore Ravens. While he failed to make their roster, he was claimed off waivers by the Jaguars, who liked what they saw during joint practices with Baltimore.

“With Matt, we were in Baltimore ... we felt good ... we liked him," then-Jaguars coach Doug Marrone said at the time. "We thought he could come in and help, thought he could help us from a protection standpoint. We made a decision to go with him. …

“We were tracking him, watching him, and at the end of the day, we just felt that he was better” than incumbent snapper Matt Overton.

Orzech failed to make the Jaguars’ roster in 2020 and spent time on the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad. In May 2021, the Titans released him and he was claimed off waivers by the Rams.

About 10 months later, he was part of the Rams’ Super Bowl-championship team.

Orzech grew up loving baseball. Division II Azusa Pacific offered him a chance to play both sports. Initially, he was a tight end. When the team’s top snappers went down, Orzech got his chance.

“It was a Division II school ... and that gave him an opportunity to play both,” his father told NBC Los Angeles. “The coach asked him, ‘Have you ever long snapped?’ And he said, ‘No.’ And he goes, ‘Well, you're a pitcher for baseball, you should be able to do this.”

And he did, making the varsity team all four seasons.

Then, he became the first player in Azusa Pacific history to play in – and win – a Super Bowl.

“My job is to be invisible,” he told The Los Angeles Times in a phone interview. “My job is not to be noticed.”

The offensive line coach when Orzech was at the school was Hall of Fame offensive lineman Jackie Slater.

“He’s just a tough, gritty guy – and he pays attention to the details,” Slater said. “He had the perfect mental makeup for that job."

With the Rams, Orzech replaced two-time Pro Bowler Jake McQuaide and impressed longtime punter Johnny Hekker.

“If anything, I was just apprehensive a little bit about the kind of guy we were going to get,” Hekker said in The Los Angeles Times story. “You never know after having a relationship like that with Jake for nine years, you build a really deep friendship.

“Matt’s really a joy to be around. He’s funny and really smart. You can talk movies or literally everything. … And he’s a pretty dang good football player.”