Jaguars' Hamilton Came Through in Unfamilar Role

The Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t draft Davon Hamilton to long snap.

The team drafted Hamilton in the third round out of Ohio State in 2020 to be a defensive tackle, and since then, he’s started 67 games for the team, including the last 39.

Hamilton wasn’t brought to Jacksonville to be the long snapper, but sometimes, you have to do what you have to do. In the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles,

Jacksonville’s regular long snapper, Ross Matiscik, went down with a shoulder injury.

Teams don’t carry a backup long snapper, so somebody from another position had to step up.

Hamilton has experience long snapping, having come on during last year’s Week 18 win over the Tennessee Titans. Hamilton still snaps during practice, so he became the guy, and there were a lot of ways this could have gone wrong.

James Harrison had one of the best seasons in Pittsburgh Steelers history in 2008, winning Defensive Player of the Year and creating one of the most iconic Super Bowl moments of all time.

Harrison also made a mistake that played a part in the Steelers losing a game that season, and it wasn’t at his typical outside linebacker position.

Against the New York Giants at Heinz Field, Harrison had to fill in at long snapper.

On a punt, Harrison snapped the ball through the end zone for a safety, which ended up leading to nine New York points since the Giants scored a touchdown after getting the free kick.

Sometimes, even experienced long-snappers mess it up.

Trey Junkin spent most of his 19-year NFL career as a long snapper, yet he’s best known for botching a snap on a game-winning field goal attempt for the Giants in the 2003 playoffs.

When the Jags set up for a walkoff 57-yard field goal that would have sealed one of the most unlikely wins in team history (Jacksonville’s win probability was.1 percent per ESPN, down by two with eight seconds left), Hamilton could have been the one who screwed it up.

Instead, the snap got down, Cam Little kicked it through and the Jags won.

“He was able to keep his position while maybe getting his one knee off and still be able to be in a position, and his arms are long as well,” Jags’ coach Liam Coen said afterward. “Yeah, kind of crazy.”

“Crazy” is the best word to describe Sunday’s win, and Hamilton’s story was one aspect of it.

"Hopefully I don't have to do it next week,” Hamilton said after the game via ESPN. “We can move on, but it was fun."

If Jacksonville’s 4-1 start is any indication, there’s plenty more fun to be had this year.