Mike Windt (born May 29, 1986) 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 ...

. He 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 ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

College career

Windt had an outstanding three-year career (2007–09) at the University of

. Windt played well in 395 career snaps for the Bearcats.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

After going undrafted in the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

, Windt signed with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

as a rookie free agent on April 24, 2010, he was later cut before the regular season.

San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers

Windt was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

on October 13, 2010. Windt becomes the Chargers' long snapper in 2010.

David Binn David Aaron Binn (born February 6, 1972) is a former American football long snapper who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eighteen seasons. He played college football for the University of California, Berkeley. He was signed by t ...

James Dearth James Dearth (born January 22, 1976) is a former American football long snapper. Dearth, who attended Tarleton State University, was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the sixth round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He has also been a member of the New ...

and

Ryan Neill Ryan Neill (born December 12, 1982) is a former American football defensive end and long snapper. He was signed by the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He grew up in Wayne, New Jersey, and played college football at Rutgers. In ...

were all on Injured-Reserve and Ethan Albright snapped in the Chargers' last two games. Windt is arguably most famous for snapping the direct snap and participating in the blocking on the fake punt by

Eric Weddle Eric Steven Weddle (born January 4, 1985) is an American former American football, football Safety (gridiron football position), safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football at University of ...

in the 2013 season finale that propelled the Chargers' winning drive that got the team into the 2013-14 postseason. On March 8, 2017, Windt signed a four-year, $4.41 million contract extension with the Chargers. On August 20, 2019, after playing nine consecutive seasons with the Chargers, he was released in favor of

Cole Mazza Cole Joseph Frank Mazza (born February 14, 1995) is an American football long snapper for the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at Alabama. College career Mazza was served as the starting lo ...

who was signed that offseason.

Personal life

Windt was originally born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended Elder High School. He currently resides in San Diego, California with his wife. Windt also has an older brother and a younger sister.

References

External links

Cincinnati BioChargers Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Windt, Mike 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Cincinnati American football long snappers Cincinnati Bearcats football players Cincinnati Bengals players San Diego Chargers players Los Angeles Chargers players Elder High School alumni