“Hedstrom takes lead role in obscure spot” |
| Hedstrom takes lead role in obscure spot Posted: 09 Oct 2010 12:19 AM PDT Freshman from Fort Collins will get the start today as the Rams' long snapper. FORT COLLINS — Tanner Hedstrom has an upside-down and backward view of the football field. He's a long snapper, a largely anonymous task. The job description can best be summed up as a "thankless position." A skill-position player can turn over the ball with disastrous results but also score on a big play. "They have close to 60 plays to come back from a mental mistake, and I have four to five," Hedstrom said. Long snapper is also an opportunity for an undersized high school lineman to get a look by an FBS school. "It's a very important position now. It's more of a game-changing position," said Hedstrom of the raised visibility of special teams. Until senior Scott Albritton was forced out of Saturday's game in the first half against TCU with a knee injury, few of the most devoted Colorado State fans had even heard of the three-year starter. A long-snapping specialist signed out of junior college in the 2008 class, Albritton had performed flawlessly.For all the shock of going into the game, special-teams coordinator Larry Lewis said Hedstrom did a "phenomenal job" for never having snapped in a game. This week was an extended crash course on some of the finer mechanical points. He also has time to think about his assignments for Air Force. Last week, he just went in cold. "It was exciting, but I felt bad because Scott is one of my good friends," said Hedstrom, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound invited walk-on from Fort Collins High School. "It was a dream come true going out on the field I always watched growing up. I had a blast." Although he played center and linebacker in CSU's backyard, he was discovered by defensive coordinator and in-state recruiter Larry Kerr at a kicking specialty camp in Las Vegas. Along with kickers and punters, long snappers have their summer instructional camps, and Hedstrom said he went to three camps. It wasn't until he committed to CSU that he had another FBS walk-on offer from Boise State. He hopes a scholarship is in his near future. CSU coach Steve Fairchild has said all week that Albritton has a possible NFL future. Long before it was trendy, CSU produced outstanding long snappers. Harper LeBel, a tight end from 1981-84, was a 12th-round draft pick who had a 10-year career in the NFL as a long snapper. Mitch Palmer long snapped for the Rams in the mid-'90s and spent three seasons in the NFL. Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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