Freakonomics Radio Analyzes the Super Bowl: It's All About The Long Snapper

 In the lead up to this Sunday's Super Bowl, media, fans, sports betting enthusiasts and casual observers are focused on the important elements of the game. 

Rams QB Matthew Stafford versus Bengals QB Joe Burrow.

Can the Bengals' leaky offensive line stop the Rams' vaunted pass rush led by Aaron Donald and Von Miller?

Can Ram all-pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey cover Bengals star wideout Ja'Marr Chase?

Leave it to the Freakonomics Radio podcast to have a totally different take on the contest.

In this week's Freakonomics Radio, the podcast tackles the most obscure position in football: the long snapper.

"Do you know what a long snapper is?" host Stephen Dubner asks in the intro. "Even if you’re a football fan, you may not. And if you aren’t a football fan — well, no. You’ve heard of the quarterback, maybe the wide receiver and linebacker. But the long snapper? No. That is not a thing that people care about. Today on Freakonomics Radio: we’re going to make you care. We’re going to explain what the long snapper does and why his super-specialized labor is worth the investment."

To answer those questions, Dubner interviews an array of players and experts about what it takes to do the "the most monotonous job in the world":

• Reid Ferguson, Buffalo Bills snapper: "When you accept this lifestyle and this position, you have to fall in love with the monotony of the job, you have to. You have to fall in love with chasing that perfect snap."
  
  
• Rich McKay, President/CEO of the Atlantic Falcons: "If we were doing this podcast 15 years ago, you would have said to me, 'Hey, who are the specialists on the team?' And I would have said to you, 'The punter and the kicker.'… Today, if you say to me, 'Who are the specialists on the team?' I'd say, 'The punter, the kicker, and the snapper.'"
  
  
• LP Ladouceur, Dallas Cowboys snapper for 16 seasons: "At eight yards, you know exactly how many rotations it takes to get to the holder's hand. And so the way you place your hand on the ball - you have always exact same rotation that lands into the holder's hand… We're there to make sure that the kicker has the cleanest operation possible so he can do his job "
  
  
• Chris Rubio, long snapper coach: "No one knows his name. No one wants to know his name. No one should know his name, except for his girlfriend and his mom and dad. They just want to get that job done. And that's what the coaches want. They just want, basically, a Honda Accord. It's not the flashiest. But you know what? That damn thing's going to go for 300,000 miles, and it's going to keep on running forever."

Plus, as a special bonus, DraftKings has created an unusual prop bet for fans to bet on the long snapper. This Super Bowl offers both sides of the snapper coin: Bengals veteran Clark Harris, the second most experienced in the NFL with 12 seasons under his belt, and Rams snapper Matthew Orzech, in his first full season as a starter.

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 In a sign of longevity for Freakonomics Radio and podcasting in general,  Freakonomics Radio will celebrate its 500th episode in late March. The podcast had also surpassed 100 million downloads last year. 

I remember a TV /Radio reviewer in an entertainment magazine mentioning the Freakonomics Radio podcast in 2011. Here's how he described it: "A blip on the radar. A fleeting trend. It'll be gone by the end of the year, just like podcasting in general."

As a podcasting advocate and Freakonomics Radio fan, I'd like to say to that reviewer: "** **** ********