Devin King can argue that he’s the best long snapper to ever play football.
Yes. Ever. That label isn’t limited to college, either. King is technically the strongest person to ever launch a football between his legs.
The Ohio long snapper earned that label when he broke a Guinness World Record with a 38-yard snap after a hot and sunny August practice during fall camp at Peden Stadium. The previous record was 36 yards, and King felt that was easy to break.
King casually decided to attempt it when Ohio’s specialists googled the record after they jokingly discussed it on the sideline.
No Guinness judge was going to make the trek to Athens, so King and Zach Roberts, a videographer with Ohio Athletics, ensured there would be enough witnesses to verify King’s attempt. Five police officers, a few media members and a couple of team personnel watched King and offered a subdued, but congratulatory “Hey!” after the ball hit the turf past a pair of cones marking the previous record.
King submitted his “evidence,” and now he’s waiting to hear back from Guinness.
“I mean, if I get the record, I get a plaque,” King said. “I’m hoping everything goes through.”
The record is just about the only statistic King could have to display his skills as a long snapper at Ohio.
Three years ago, however, King would have never guessed he could break a record. He was originally on the wrestling team when he arrived at Ohio in 2015, and he didn’t become a starter until his redshirt sophomore season.
King hoped to maintain that status through the rest of college, but he lost it as a redshirt junior. He never ruled out a return to football to revive his long-snapping days as a player at Sheridan High School.
No longer a starter for the wrestling team, King decided to switch to football after he saw Chris Rodgers, Ohio’s assistant athletic director for football operations, working with walk-on players in the weight room during the spring of 2018. Rodgers agreed to watch King try out.
King had occasionally practiced long snaps with wrestling teammates after he found a spare football lying around the mats after practice.
Those reps were just for fun, but it may have been the difference between King’s athletic status for his final two years of college. Ohio offered King a spot on the team after the tryout and earned a starting job immediately.
After 16 games, King’s transition and skills have largely gone unnoticed. That’s how most quality long snappers live their career.
His wrists and veins bulge out from the white tape he typically wears at practice, and his stocky frame — 6 foot, 3 inches and 241 pounds — gives him plenty of muscle to shove a football 15 yards backward with a perfect spiral in a second.
“I think my wrestling background really helps a lot,” King said. “You got to have real fast, strong hands, a strong back and good hips.”
His accuracy is laser-sharp, too. He put that on display when he posted a video of the bottle cap challenge on Twitter in July. King perfectly uncorked a bottle cap with a six-yard snap, about the same length he’d snap for a field goal.
King is so consistent, he said he doesn’t remember some of his snaps during games. That’s just how his mind operates after repeating the same motion countless times each day.
“There’s multiple times where I black out,” King said. “I don’t even know. I’m so locked in that I don’t even remember snapping the ball at the right time.”
There’s not much more King can accomplish. It’s tough for long snappers to make the NFL, let alone become a college starter after spending three years away from football.
Maybe King’s soon-to-be official world record and remarkable consistency will give him some professional looks. He’s already mastered one of the biggest keys to the position: snapping the ball to ensure the laces face away from kickers on field goal attempts.
He’s heavier than some long snappers in the NFL, too, and could be counted on from a blocking and tackling standpoint.
For King, a football career after college may just come down to luck. He can’t control that, but he couldn’t have done much more to control where he’s at now.
“I just keep working hard and bust my ass trying to do all the right things,” King said. “I’m just trying to be the most consistent guy in the nation.”
