Among football’s most common axioms is the anonymous nature of offensive linemen. While the quarterbacks and skill position players get all the headlines and highlights, the guys who toil in the trenches often are seen as just big, faceless bodies, if they are acknowledged at all.

If offensive linemen are anonymous, then long snappers are in witness protection.

But to Josh George’s way of thinking, that’s ideal. He likes to live by two simple words preached by Kyle Stetler, his instructor at and founder of Special Teams University: Go unnoticed.

“You mess up, they know who you are,” said George, a Plum grad and rising junior at Slippery Rock. “If you don’t mess up, they don’t know you, and that’s a good thing.”

While George might go under the radar of most observers — including the PSAC, which doesn’t recognize a long snapper on its postseason all-star teams — Rock coach Shawn Lutz is keenly aware of his long snapper’s value. Lutz said he even has increased George’s scholarship because of how pivotal he is to the team.

Lutz calls George the best long snapper he has been around, and even though he plays a very limited role in each game, the importance of that role, the coach said, can’t be overstated.

“If there’s a bad snap on an extra point, field goal or a snap goes over the punter’s head, those are game-breakers that can win and lose you football games,” said Lutz, entering his eighth season as Slippery Rock’s coach. “So if you never notice a long snapper, for the most part, you know he’s doing a really good job. It’s so critical and important.”

George is carrying on a family tradition at Slippery Rock. His older brother, Jacob, served as the Rock’s long snapper for two seasons — “And he was great,” Lutz said. When Jacob exited the program after the 2019 season, in came Josh the following season.

At the high school level, long snappers don’t get a lot of formal instruction, so Josh said he simply followed in his brother’s footsteps, observing him and training with him. The main vehicle for specialists to hone their craft is at training centers such as Special Teams University in Eau Claire, Wis.

George said he attends that camp once or twice a year. He also has attended Pitt’s specialist camp, where he had a chance to observe and get tips from former Panther and current Cincinnati Bengals long snapper Cal Adomitis. George said, during his junior year at Plum, he was named best long snapper at the Pitt camp.

So when George arrived at Slippery Rock, Lutz got a near-finished product.

“I don’t think there’s anybody better than what he does,” the coach said. “I don’t even mess with him. It’s really just him doing it and being the best he can be with it.”

Added George: “It’s a lot of repetition. There’s a lot that goes into it that not many people know about. You just have to be confident in what you do and get your work in.

“Most people think you just go down there and throw the ball. You have to have alignment with your body, use your core. You have to flick it correctly to get the ball accurate, and you have to have the trajectory as well.”

In terms a long snapper’s effectiveness, the snap not only has to be delivered with accuracy, it has to arrive at the target quickly. The quicker the ball gets to the punter/holder, the less time the defense has to mount a rush.

Lutz said the standard NFL time for a long snap to reach a punter is 0.8 seconds. He said George is consistently around that mark, and, George said, on his best days, he can hit the high 0.6s.

And along with all the technique involved, long snappers — as well as kickers, punters and holders — have the expectation of performing flawlessly every time they take the field. An errant snap or botched kick make a specialist an easy target for fans’ derision.

Or, to put it in 21st century terms, “You had one job!” But, George said, few can appreciate the difficulty of that “one job.”

“Most people understand and appreciate what I do, the people around me: my teammates, coaches, my family,” he said. “They understand it. But there’s pressure that goes into it.

“You have one job, and you have one try to do it. It’s not like a quarterback who throws a bad pass. He has the next play to do it. I have one try to get it back there, and if I mess up, it’s on me.”

Lutz said, mechanically, there isn’t much wrong with what George does. And even if something does go wrong, George has reached the point where he can self-correct.

Where he has seen the biggest improvement is in George’s confidence. In the past, Lutz said, George would be hard on himself if a snap wasn’t perfect, but he is learning to have a short memory.

“I just see his confidence growing,” Lutz said. “You’re not going to be perfect all the time, and I think he realizes that. It’s no different than the golf game. They (golfers) have a bad shot, and if they keep thinking about it … they have to wash it away.

“He’s done a great job of not trying to be perfect and just doing what he does.”

George said he doesn’t mean to sound cocky when he says it, but he believes he is the “best in the business” at what he does. He even aspires to play in the NFL.

“I would love to take it that far if I ever get the opportunity, yes,” he said.

If he gets there, he might get to play opposite the long snapper he calls the best in the league, Indianapolis’ Luke Rhodes.

Never heard of Luke Rhodes? That’s exactly George’s point.

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