Donald Lynn Muhlbach Jr. (born August 17, 1981) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point attempt ...

. At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest active player in the NFL other than

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

. Muhlbach played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. He was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2004 by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

before joining the Lions that same year. He is second in Lions franchise history in games played, only behind former teammate

Jason Hanson Jason Hanson (born June 17, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a kicker who spent his entire 21-year career with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football with the Washi ...

. Muhlbach was the last remaining active member of the Lions' infamous 2008 season, where they went 0–16.

High school career

Muhlbach attended

Lufkin High School Lufkin High School is a public high school located in Lufkin, Texas (United States) and is classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League. It is part of the Lufkin Independent School District that serves the Lufkin area and cen ...

Lufkin, Texas Lufkin is the largest city in Angelina County, Texas and the county seat. The city is situated in Deep East Texas and about 60 miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border. Its estimated population is 35,021 as of July 1, 2019. Lufkin was founded ...

. As a senior football player, he was the Lufkin special team's most valuable player, and earned Academic All-District honors.

College career

Muhlbach attended

, where he served as the team's long snapper for the 2003 season. He also saw action at punter as a sophomore during the 2001 season.

Professional career

Muhlbach signed as an

with the

on April 30, 2004. He spent the summer and OTAs with the Ravens before being released during

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

on August 30, 2004. On November 10, 2004, the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

signed him as a replacement for injured long snapper Jody Littleton. Prior to joining the Lions, he had tried out for the team and the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

and was working at a

First Bank and Trust Founded in 1991, First Bank and Trust is a New Orleans-based independent bank with branch locations across the Gulf Coast. The main office is located in Downtown New Orleans inside the First Bank and Trust Tower First Bank and Trust has branche ...

. Upon his signing, Muhlbach was described as "the

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan ...

of long snappers" by then-general manager

Matt Millen Matthew George Millen (born March 12, 1958) is a former American football linebacker and executive. Millen played 12 years in the National Football League for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, and Washington Redskins, ...

; Millen was referring to the speed at which the ball is snapped to the holder or punter, with Muhlbach having the quickest snaps of those the team timed. Early in his Lions career, Muhlbach overcame the adversity brought on by a botched snap against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

in a December 20, 2004 game. Holder Nick Harris was unable to cleanly field a bounced snap on a PAT attempt with 8 seconds remaining in the game. The missed PAT and unsuccessful

onside kick In gridiron football, an onside kick is a kickoff deliberately kicked short in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball. This is in contrast with a typical kickoff, in which the kicking team intends to give the ball to the o ...

resulted in the Lions falling in regulation to the Vikings 28-27. Had the PAT been successful, the game likely would have gone to overtime, giving the Lions an opportunity for a win. The Lions' faith in Muhlbach since paid off as he did not botch another snap through 2012. Muhlbach played in every Lions game since 2005 outside of a single game in 2009 due to a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

. Following the 2012 season, Muhlbach was named to the

2013 Pro Bowl The 2013 Pro Bowl was the National Football League (NFL)'s sixty-third annual all-star game which featured players from the 2012 season. It took place at 2:30 pm Hawaii–Aleutian Time ( UTC−10:00; 7:30 pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, Ja ...

, the first of his career. He was also the first Lions long snapper to make a Pro Bowl. Since 2015, Muhlbach signed consecutive one-year contracts to stay with the Lions. Muhlbach was released by the Lions on August 17, 2021, his 40th birthday, after 17 seasons with the team. Following his release, Muhlbach retired from the NFL, and joined the Lions' front office as a special assistant to the team president.

Personal life

Muhlbach is married to Alix Koetting. On August 24, 2012, she gave birth to their first daughter, Addison. His uncle, John Muhlbach, was a center for

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhlbach, Don 1981 births Living people American football long snappers Detroit Lions players Sportspeople from Newark, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Texas A&M Aggies football players Players of American football from Texas People from Lufkin, Texas National Conference Pro Bowl players