Hello Snappers!

We are getting closer and closer to the start of football season and I can't wait for it. It's the best time of the year. I wanted to share this interview that I got to be a part of earlier this year. We talked about everything from the walk-on process to what it meant to me to start the Long Snapping Lifestyle. Riley and I played sports in high school together so it has been really special to talk to him about the paths that we have taken since high school. The rest of this blog post was written by him so I will let him share the rest with you. 

Check out the video below or you can read the transcription. It's a low quality video, but high quality content! 

Interview

This interview was fun and hit close to home because I had the opportunity to talk to one of my longtime friend and former teammate about his long snapping career. With the help of my podcast co-host Clayton Happel, it was an honor to do this. Not only is this story about D1 sports, but what it's like to be a walk on.

Riley Liekweg: What was it like transitioning from 8-man to 11-man football?

Joe Friedrich: "It was interesting for sure. I thought I knew a lot about football. Thought I knew a lot about the eight man game, and then we added three more people to the playing field. I had no idea some of the schemes and stuff. Luckily as a long snapper, I didn't really have to learn a lot about that. I think it would've been a lot more difficult if I had been a linebacker or something, and I needed to understand how plays worked and how schemes were set up. That would've been more difficult, but as a specialist, you do your job and it's the same on any field."

Clayton Happel: What positions did you play in high school?

Joe Friedrich: "In high school, I was a defensive end and a center, so I thought I knew everything about blocking and who to block. Instead of three guys it was five, so it was a lot different."

Clayton Happel: Was it a weird transition going from being on the field all the time to being on the field only when needed?

Joe Friedrich: "For sure. It was frustrating at first. You want to get out there and be out there every play. In high school with a small school, you're playing both sides, you're on the field all the time, and it's just way different being a specialist. It was definitely a change for me."

Riley Liekweg: Can you talk us through the walk on process?

Joe Friedrich: "For me, it was difficult because I didn't have a lot of connections. Nobody that I knew very well went to UNI or anything, so our coach, Coach Eastman, kind of hooked me up. He talked to the guy that does walk on stuff, and it was actually really difficult because they didn't reply very often. They weren't really worried about walk ons. It was frustrating not being able to talk to anyone here. Eventually, we started getting closer to the fall, so they started replying a little bit more. We got more information as far as tryouts, where to be, and things like that. It was frustrating. I was trying to get different workouts to do and talk to lifting coaches, but they just wouldn't tell me. They couldn't help me out. It was difficult and frustrating, but it was worth it.

Sam (Meyne) and I, we walked on together, so he was a linebacker. We made a pact that we would try out together, and no matter what happens, we would just live with it. It was nice to have that person with me going through everything. That definitely helped. I don't know if I would've been able to do it without someone driving me and wanting to. If you don't have people replying to you, it gets difficult. You want to say screw it and just go to school here. It was nice to have him."

Clayton Happel: Through the walk on process, did you notice a need at the long snapping position or what made you chose that? Why'd you go that route?

Joe Friedrich: "I knew that I was pretty good at it. I actually didn't know that it was a different position. I just thought centers did it when I was in high school. My senior year, I had a coach that told me "hey, you're really good at long snapping." Coach Hoff took me in the mornings and we would practice. We got it down and figured it out. He had done a little bit at Iowa. Coach was a walk on there, so he knew about long snapping. He had tried to do it when he was there, so he taught me a little bit.

It was actually a need when I got to Northern Iowa, but I had no idea. You don't get added to the roster until after their first competition, or at least that used to be the rule. Their first game was at Iowa State. The long snapper, Trent Simpson, had gotten a concussion, and they didn't really have a back up. He passed everything in order to play the next Saturday, but they were worried about having a back-up. It did happen to be great timing, but I had no idea ahead of time."

Riley Liekweg: What's been the big difference for you prepping for a high school game and prepping for a college game?

Joe Friedrich: "It's totally different. I'm really superstitious now. I didn't used to be, but when you only have so many opportunities on the field you want to make sure that your routines are always the same. We go out three hours before the game. I would've never done that in high school. It seems like forever before the game. You get there and you get everything ready. You go out there without your pads on just to kind of get some snaps in and get a feel for the field. It's definitely different.

In high school, I'd show up as late as I could. I'd bring a sandwich with me. I was not ready to play when I got there but I would get into it before. I'd be ready to play when we had to, but I definitely wasn't. Now, we have a pregame meal in the morning. Home games I'll go home watch a 30 minute episode of something funny to get my mind off of it. Then I'll come back and I'm locked in ready to go. That's all I think about for the next seven hours because I'm there three hours early getting ready and then the game is like three hours. It's a whole lot different."

Riley Liekweg: What made you want to continue your football career and play D1 for the Panthers?

Joe Friedrich: "Being from around here for sure. Ten minutes away, hometown, both my parents went to UNI, so we'd always come to basketball games. Since about third grade, I wanted to play UNI basketball. Obviously, I'm not doing that now, but that's what I always wanted. I always wanted to come here. I had dreams of playing football or basketball here when I was younger. Then, I started getting a little older and started getting a little more realistic. I got the opportunity to walk on here. I just wouldn't let it go."

Clayton Happel: When you are in game, if you have a bad snap or biff it, how do you respond to that?

Joe Friedrich: "It's tough. It's like a kicker missing a kick or a quarterback throwing an interception. You have to have that short term mentality. I snap a ton on the sidelines, so whenever the offense is on the field, I'm snapping. If it's on one side of the fifty, I'll snap punts. If it's on the other side, 40 yards in, I'll snap PATs. I haven't snapped one that we haven't gotten off yet. I have had low ones and they bother me. I'll start right away getting more snaps in and feeling confident. I won't wait and sit around to let myself think about it for awhile. I'll just get right back into snapping as soon as I can."

Clayton Happel: Do you ever on a punt get to get down there and make the hit?

Joe Friedrich: "Luckily, we have a system that I don't really have to block for anybody, so I just launch it. I just zoom down there. A lot of teams won't block long snappers so it just feels awesome. You just run down there. Even if you make them fair catch it, it's just a great feeling. It's probably my favorite part of being a long snapper."

Riley Liekweg: Now, let's get into your twitter. You created a twitter page called Long Snapping Lifestyle. How'd this come to be?

Joe Friedrich: "I thought it was a great opportunity. I knew a lot about snapping and have always been surrounded by it. I thought it was a great opportunity to meet a lot of people. What was different between high school and college, for me at least, I hated everyone I played against. Anybody not from Janesville, don't talk to me especially during sports. I hate you. In college it is totally different, I want to learn from you. I want to take what other people are doing. I want to make myself better. The Long Snapping Lifestyle gets to do that. I've met a ton of people and connected with a ton of different long snappers at a bunch of different levels. It's been a great opportunity just to learn and meet people."

Riley Liekweg: You've been here for four years. What has been your proudest moment in your football career here?

Joe Friedrich: "I don't know. That's a tough one. I would say just making the team. Honestly, I don't think there has been anybody from Janesville that has made it to this level, far as football. We've got a lot of good athletes that don't get the attention they should, or at least that I think they should, especially at the eight-man level. You've got some studs coming out of there now. It's because they are so selective. They don't give any eight-man guy a shot, so getting on the team was huge.

As far as in game stuff, I had a fumble recovery. That was dope. I didn't scoop it up, I should have, I was wide open, but I still got the fumble. Their returner got smoked and he muffed it. It was awesome. It was an awesome feeling because we ended up winning that game against a really tough South Dakota State team.

Getting to play Iowa State was awesome. It's a great place to play. I got a couple tackles there so that was cool. It was my only two tackle game, so that was fun. Iowa was cool, even though I hate Iowa, it was still a cool atmosphere. I would say just getting to represent everybody and getting to be that first step for hopefully more people. You've got guys like Karter Shult who just got signed. Elias Nissen has a tryout camp with the Bears and the Saints. I played against them both in high school, both eight man guys."

Clayton Happel: You have one semester left. What are you going to miss most about UNI?

Joe Friedrich: "The brotherhood. Everywhere I go on campus there's somebody that I know or have connected with whether it be a football guy or somebody that I have a lot of classes with. It's just nice to have that tight knit community. I don't know if I'll get that sort of thing later on in life. You have people you work with, but it's not such a wide variety of people. You all kind of have your thing and it just seems a little different. I'm going to miss that for sure."

I would just like to take the time to thank Joe for letting us have the opportunity to interview him. I learned a lot about him that I didn't really know. He opened my eyes to the long, difficult process a walk-on has to get through to just get the initial for in the door. Good luck in your final season Joe, and thank you for inspiring future walk-ons.

I want to thank Riley & Clayton for asking to be a part of this cool process and to be a part of my first podcast. I wish them both the best of luck in whatever they decide to do with their future careers. If you enjoyed this, click the link to check out Riley's personal site with some of his other projects.