John Denney – Long snapper and Defensive end – 2001-2002, 2004
It is near impossible for any long snapper to make any list of Top 100’s unless it is about long snappers but here we are kicking it off with one. John Denney while at BYU was about as unrecognizable as any other long snapper in the country. He came into the game, snapped the ball and went off the field.
Unfortanelty, similar to a field goal placeholder, full back or kickoff coverage, if your name is said on the air it probably is not because of a good reason.
Denney is unique in that he was not only the long snapper for BYU but also a defensive end. A neck injury sidelined Denney early during his sophomore season in 2002, but he went on to start seven games at left defensive end for the team in 2004 where he recorded four sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. His main responsibility however was long snapping.
Currently, Denney is playing for the Miami Dolphins as their long snapper and is going into his 15th season.
Rankings
Impact: D
Denney made a bit of a difference on defense his senior season and he for sure made an impact on the team in the locker room helping to motivate his team after coming back from the neck injury but as far as memorable impact, it is nearly nonexistent, especially for this list.
Statistics: D-
Denney will have the worst stats of anyone in the Top 100 statistically. The good stats that he does have is the fact that there weren’t really any bad snaps by Denney that cost his team the game or a safety/blocked kick.
Memorable: B
If you look at the list of consecutive games started of all-time in the NFL, John Denney is currently ranked T-No.17 with 224 consecutive games played. He also is the leader for active players. If he is able to play for two more seasons and play another 32 games, it would move Denney into a tie for 4th place all-time. That honor probably won’t be taken away anytime soon either as average career lengths are on the decline and with so many injury protocols few players make it more than 100 consecutive games.
He also scores a few points with the comeback after the neck injury.
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Be sure to check out tomorrow as we unveil Number 99! Also if you missed the honorable mentions check out the next page!