Patrick Mannelly (born April 18, 1975) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

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 ...

for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). 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 ...

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

and was selected by Chicago in the sixth round of the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

. Mannelly played with the Bears for 16 years before retiring in 2014. He is considered one of the top long snappers in modern-day football, a title given to him by sports columnist Rick Gosselin and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

agent Kevin Gold. The

Patrick Mannelly Award The Patrick Mannelly Award is an award given annually in the United States to the best college football long snapper. The award is named after Duke Blue Devils alum and former Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American footbal ...

, which was named after him, is presented to the top

NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

senior

High school years

Mannelly attended Marist School in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, where he was a letterman in

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. In football, he was invited to the Georgia–Florida All-Star game after his senior season. Mannelly graduated from Marist School in 1993.

College career

Mannelly attended

and was a four-year starter at long snapper and a two-year starter on the offensive line. He missed a majority of senior year due to a mysterious hip injury. In Mannelly's final college game he went up against

Mel Tucker Melvin Tucker II (born January 4, 1972) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at Michigan State University, a position he has held since 2020. Previously, Tucker served as the head football coach ...

; 15 years later Tucker would join Mannelly at the

and became the Bears defensive coordinator.

Professional career

The Bears drafted Mannelly in the sixth round of the

. Per the Bears records he snapped the ball 2,282 times during his NFL career without a botched snap. In 2006, kicker

Robbie Gould Robert Paul Gould III (; born December 6, 1982) is an American football placekicker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played with the Chicago Bears from 2005 to 2015, during which he became the franchise's all ...

claimed that Mannelly played a pivotal part of his productive season, and praised him in his Pro Bowl acceptance speech. Gould considered him one of the NFL's unsung heroes. On September 27,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, Mannelly broke

Steve McMichael Stephen Douglas McMichael (born October 17, 1957), nicknamed "Mongo", "Ming" and "Ming the Merciless", is an American former professional football player, sports broadcaster, and professional wrestler. McMichael played college football for the U ...

's Chicago Bears record for most games played as a Bear, with 192 (the record now stands at 245, at the time of his retirement he was tied for 43rd most in NFL history). In a 2011 game against 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 ...

, Mannelly ruptured his ACL, and was placed on injured reserve. In 2012, Mannelly broke the record for most seasons with the Bears with 15. On December 24, 2012, Mannelly signed a one-year deal with the Bears. Mannelly retired on June 20, 2014 after a 16-year career. Mannelly ended his career with 81 special teams tackles, the third most by a Bear since 1995 (when the statistic was first officially recorded), and the longest tenured player in team history.

Life after football

On September 2, 2014, Mannelly debuted with Chicago sports talk radio station 670 The Score as a co-host to

Matt Spiegel Matt Spiegel (born September 15, 1970) is a sports talk show host and singer based in Chicago. He served as a host on The Score SportsRadio 670 off and on since 2009. As of 2022, he is the current drive time host with Danny Parkins and hosts the ...

. Less than a year later, Mannelly left the show citing a lack of interest in covering sports besides football. He will remain on the station as a football analyst. In 2019, Mannelly partnered with NFL agent Kevin Gold and trainer Chris Rubio to create the

, given to the best long snapper in college football.

Personal life

Mannelly was born to Jay and Patty Mannelly. His brother, Bernard, played college football for Notre Dame. He and Tamara John, the daughter of former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher

Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Ch ...

, were married in 1998. The couple has one daughter who was born on Christmas Eve 2005. Mannelly is also a spokesperson for the American Lung Association's Athletes and Asthma program. Mannelly was a recipient of the

Ed Block Courage Award The Ed Block Courage Award is an annual award presented to a player from each team in the National Football League (NFL) who are voted for by their teammates as role models of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage. Named in memory of Ed Block, a ...

on April 8, 2014.

References

External links

Official website

Chicago Bears bio

Patrick Mannelly Award

The Life of the Long Snapper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mannelly, Patrick 1975 births Living people American football long snappers Chicago Bears players Duke Blue Devils football players Players of American football from Atlanta Marist School (Georgia) alumni Ed Block Courage Award recipients