For NFL Long Snapper, No Role Too Small

For decades now, football has been America’s favorite sport. The NFL generates nearly 20 billion dollars a year and showcases some of the world’s most recognizable players. Everyone knows their team’s quarterback and receivers. But what about the long snapper?

Will Dawson: "Morgan, for those who don’t know, what does a long snapper do?"

Morgan Cox: "On fourth down I will take the ball and snap it back to the punter. And once he punts it, I got to run down the field and try and tackle the most athletic guys on their team usually. And then on a field goal, I'll snap the ball back to the holder and hopefully the laces hit him just in such a way that he can just set the ball down and the ball takes off towards the uprights and goes through the yellow things."

Dawson: "It sounds like an important position."

Cox: "You know, I'm a little biased. I think it's pretty important."

Morgan Cox is one of the most decorated long snappers in NFL history. He’s a Super Bowl champion, a 5-time Pro-Bowler and the first at his position selected as All-Pro.

Dawson: "Patrick Mahomes, O.J. Simpson, J.J. Watt and Morgan Cox, what do all those players have in common?"

Cox: "Well, we all have been in the NFL?"

Dawson: "Five Pro Bowls."

Cox: "Oh, okay."

Dawson: "You guys are all on the same playing field."

Cox: "Okay, I don't know about that. The saying goes is, you know, you're doing your job well if nobody knows your name as a long snapper. And so I love it that way. I get to share the victories that my teammates have, you know, over the years, making kicks, making important kicks at the end of games. I know I played a part in it."

Morgan played college football at Tennessee, however, as vital as his role was, he wasn’t on scholarship. In 2010 he went undrafted in the NFL, though he signed with the Baltimore Ravens, where he would spend eleven seasons. In 2021, he signed with the Tennessee Titans.

“I never wanted to be more than what I was,” said Morgan. “I mean, I knew the gifts that I'd been given. Of course, I would love to be more athletic, would love to be faster, would love to be stronger and all that stuff. When I look back on my journey, there's no real explanation for this path I've been on. I got to be on this ride because I feel God's hand.”

When he was eight-years-old, Morgan gave his life to God.

“I felt the Holy Spirit moving in my life into my heart and I wanted to accept God's gift of Jesus Christ in my heart. And I sat down one day as an eight-year-old and accepted him. 

Morgan recalled, "Of course, it's a big moment right there and one that I pray for my kids as well. And so, I think it's really helped me and shaped my life the way it is and my career, how it is and how I approach things.”

Morgan approaches his playing career much like his life as a Christian.

“That's how I look at the long snapper position as a way of playing a part, even as a small part, is an important part in the body of Christ. And we all play a part in the body of Christ whether no matter what your role is. A servant leader, you know, is something that Jesus talks about, washing the feet of those others. I think my position is a humble position. Like I said before, I try and stayin the background.”

And in spite of his success, Morgan is grateful for the chance to play with some of the biggest names in sports and sees his career as an opportunity to share God’s love.

“As long as God calls me to it, that is, I still feel a calling to the ministry inside the locker room. I still feel that I have a purpose and I'm playing well on the field, that I want to continue playing. But I don't worry about what tomorrow is because all I have to do is look back at how I've gotten to this point."

"Things that happened had to fall exactly into place for me to be here. And so, I truly feel a calling in the locker room to be a presence, a spiritual presence. And so, when hard times come through the season, if I'm battling an injury, battling aches or just mentally struggling or had successes, you know, I give it to God and know that God has me here for a reason," Morgan stated.

Morgan concluded, "It’s just put me in such an amazing position to be where I am around guys that may or may not have heard about the gift of Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and about God.”