Interviewing Casey Kreiter: The forgotten man of Denver’s special team’s trio

Casey Kreiter, the person

Although he is establishing himself in the league, he enjoys the relative quietness of being a long snapper.

"Honestly, [it’s] the nice part of being a long snapper. My wife and I can go out to eat and nobody will know who I am."

Even though it’s a relatively normal outside life for Casey, he did experience his time as an internet sensation. Last March he and his wife Megan created an awesome gender reveal video. It went viral.

It started with a conversation with Denver Broncos Kicker Brandon McManus.

"I was talking to Bmac [Brandon McManus] about it. He said I should take a snapping video. Megan, my wife, was filming. It took me two tries. The first try it hit the balloon but it didn’t pop. She was so surprised that it only took two tries that she cut the video off short. I am one of thirty-two people who get paid to do this. It was cool that it blew up the way it did. People were even tagging other snappers in the league in the post."

NFL Trends

His video did go viral, but Kreiter isn’t crazy active on social media like other Broncos. He has a modest 3,000 followers on Twitter and he has only posted 1,200 tweets in his four years on the platform. He does keep up with other trends though, most notably Madden, jersey swaps, and Fortnite.

The cool thing for Casey is he is in the latest version of Madden. The not so cool thing is Madden isn’t overly kind to his ratings, but he isn’t too worried about it, even if he doesn’t necessarily agree with it. He is one of a couple of thousand players that get to play as themselves in a video game, and that is quite the honor.

"When the games come out, we get a copy because it’s us in the game. I’ll always check myself out to see what they do with my stats. Last year coming off the injury, I was the worst player on the team. I think I was the second worst player in the league. I don’t feel like I am the second worst player in the league though."

Casey is certainly not the second worst player in the league, but being a long snapper, I was curious if he participated in another NFL tradition, jersey swaps. He has swapped jerseys with one other player so far, former Hawkeye and current Bills safety Micah Hyde. He does have plans for future swaps though.

"I think it will happen more as I stay in the league. James Winchester (Kansas City Chiefs long snapper) is a future guy. There are a couple of people you look at and you want to get their jersey. One of them is Karl Klug (former Tennessee Titan defensive end), but I was injured when we played Tennessee."

The forgotten man crucial to a special teams revival

The life of a long snapper may not be the most glorious position on the football field, but the value is undeniable.

The Denver Broncos are lucky to have an outstanding long snapper on the field and an even better person off of it in Casey Kreiter. With a new special team’s coach, the acquisition of Marquette King, and Bronco special team stalwarts McManus and Kreiter returning I anticipate a return to the top of the league in special teams play.

And here is hoping that we get to see the first Casey Kreiter celebratory dance move after a booming punt by King in Denver this season.