Welcome to the latest installment of my weekly reimagined "Lunch with Larry," which now features wide-ranging conversations with Bears-related guests about their lives and careers.
This week my special guest is former long snapper Patrick Mannelly, who established Bears records for most seasons (16) and games (245) played after arriving in 1998 as a sixth-round draft choice from Duke.
Every week I will select the best "Lunch with Larry" fan question, with the winner receiving a Connie's Pizza gift card. The question of the week can be found at the bottom of this article.
Like the rest of Bears nation, Mannelly marveled at how veteran tight end Cole Kmet handled long snapping duties for the final three quarters of the Bears' win over the Jaguars in London after Scott Daly exited with a knee injury. Kmet earned NFC special teams player of the week honors for his performance.
"What he had to do, it's incredible," Mannelly said. "He's obviously a gifted athlete to be able to long snap and to do everything he's doing. But to me you score a touchdown, your heart rate's going crazy, you're doing a celebration hitting home runs. Then you have to slow your heart rate down. You truly have to think like a marksman during the Olympics or whatever. They slow their heart rate down, and as a long snapper you kind of have to do that because you're worried about accuracy and aim and all that kind of stuff. What he did is tremendous. Proud of him. And the Bears are lucky to have a guy like that that can step in."
In the days after the game, a Chicago sports radio host told listeners that he was convinced Mannelly could fill in as long snapper in an emergency. Now 49 years old, Mannelly initially agreed before looking at himself in a mirror.
"The only thing I think I could do possibly is the short snaps [for extra points and field goals] like Cole did," Mannelly said. "But this old body couldn't take the hits like they used to, so the answer's no."
During his decade and a half as Bears long snapper, Mannelly was a model of consistency and excellence. He delivered 2,282 career snaps and contributed to the Bears setting an NFL record for most consecutive punts without a block (920) and games without a blocked punt (180).
Mannelly was also one of the NFL's top coverage long snappers. When he retired following the 2013 season, his 81 career special teams tackles were the third most by a Bears player since 1995 when the statistic was first officially recorded.
During his first three seasons with the Bears, Mannelly doubled as a third-string offensive tackle. Though he never played the position in a game, he practiced there—until sustaining an ankle injury during a goal-line drill in training camp in 2001. Mannelly was receiving treatment in the training room when he was approached by then-coach Dick Jauron.
"He goes, 'Well, you're done doing contact drills as long as I'm your head coach,'" Mannelly said. "In my brain I went, 'Yes!' because I knew I wasn't going to be a lineman in the NFL. I remember calling my wife and going, 'My dream came true. I am now truly a long snapper.'"
Mannelly appeared in all 16 games during 12 of his 16 seasons and saw action in at least 14 contests in 15 of his 16 years with the team. He missed a total of just 11 games throughout his NFL career. Behind Mannelly, Olin Kreutz and Steve McMichael are tied for the second most games played in Bears history with 191 and Walter Payton is fourth with 190.
"I was lucky enough to live a boyhood dream and play in the NFL," Mannelly said. "Never did I ever think my name would be next to Steve McMichael, Walter Payton, Olin Kreutz, those names up there with the most games played, most seasons played."
Mannelly was voted by teammates and coaches as the Bears' special teams captain in each of his final six seasons. He was also selected as the 2013 Ed Block Courage Award recipient. Years later, Mannelly remains in contact with a group of former teammates that remain just as close as they were when they played together.
"Everybody liked each other," Mannelly said. "I've talked to some guys who went to go play for other teams and they can't believe that we still have a text chain, that we still all chat, goof around. We'll see each other every now and then …
"Maybe it kind of goes back to [former coach] Lovie Smith and the culture he set there and how he allowed us to be in that locker room … It's a brotherhood. It's a lifelong thing. It's just kind of cool. We're all still really close."
The winner of the fan question and a Connie's Pizza gift card is Nolan C., who asks: What was your favorite moment from the 2006 Super Bowl season?
Mannelly: "It was the coin flip at the Super Bowl. It's me, Moose (Muhsin Muhammad), Lach (Brian Urlacher) and Olin [Kreutz]. And then it's Peyton Manning, Dwight Freeney, Adam Vinatieri, and Dan Marino's doing the coin flip. It’s on my Twitter bio, but I could paint that picture without seeing that. I just captured it and it's like, 'I'm not supposed to be here. This is a surreal moment.' It was unbelievable."
In closing, I'd like to thank Patrick for speaking to me about his life and career. I spent a lot of time with him throughout his 16 seasons with the Bears and am glad our friendship has continued. You won't meet a better guy!
