Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz knows a thing or two about making an NFL team’s 53-man roster as he spent the first three seasons of his professional career bouncing around from team to team. He finally stuck on the Steelers’ roster as a backup long snapper under the NFL’s rules during COVID that allowed emergency players.
That being said, Kuntz leaked a secret to making an NFL roster in his podcast. To little surprise, that secret is winning a role on special teams. When Kuntz originally joined the Steelers, his first day at practice, he spent it at outside linebacker. In all fairness, Kuntz was an all-time great at linebacker at Duquesne, setting school records and placing highly in FCS history in regard to certain stats.
Kuntz called special teams, and the gunner position in specific, a “dog fight” and says that it is among the hardest positions in the league.
“That’s a dog fight,” Kuntz said on his podcast called The Christian Kuntz Podcast. “The gunner position. You’ve got two guys out there that are like, ‘I want to kill you. You’re not making it past 10 yards.’ That’s one of the hardest positions in the league.”
While Kuntz made his way via the long snapper position, he sees the work that the fringe roster players put in everyday on special teams and detailed how much goes into being on punt coverage. He said to the untrained eye, it is just a basic, normal play but for the guys on the coverage team, it is everything.
“Pulling the arm through, swatting the hands, hand placement off the line,” Kuntz later added. “Stuff where people are like, ‘He’s running down and making the tackle.’ No, he’s not. He just worked his ass off to get off the line and make that play.”
Like Kuntz does, he said most special team specialists take massive pride in their craft and said that you have to have the “dog” in you in order to survive it.
“It’s prideful, bro. You gotta be a dog. Danny Smith calls it the expressway,” Kuntz said.
While Kuntz tries to help younger players make a roster with his secrets, his spot on the roster is secured as he just signed a three-year extension this offseason that will keep him in his hometown until at least 2026. The only way that Kuntz is not the team’s long snapper is if he gets injured but as history shows, Kuntz is a bit of an iron man in regard to staying active.
46 • Christian Kuntz, Long Snapper, Duquesne
6-foot-1, 228 pounds, 30 years old, 4th Season
Acquired: The Steelers originally signed Christian Kuntz as a free agent in Aug. 15, 2019. He re-upped with the Steelers this offseason with a three-year extension.
Last season: Last season, Christian Kuntz played in all 17 regular season games and the AFC Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Career: After playing linebacker at Duquesne, Christian Kuntz first signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2017, after which he first started long snapping.
Kuntz spent time with the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018 and 2019, but did not play in a game. He was signed by the Steelers for the first time on Aug. 15, 2019 and he recorded five tackles and a sack in a preseason game against Carolina, but was among the team’s roster cuts at the end of camp. Kuntz played with the Dallas Renegades of the XFL in the spring of 2020.
After the XFL folded, Kuntz re-joined the Steelers. He was waived on Aug. 2, but the Steelers re-signed him to their practice squad on Nov. 24. He spent the rest of the season on and off the practice squad, as the Steelers attempted to keep backups for all three of their specialists within the NFL’s COVID-19 testing protocols.
College: Christian Kuntz, a graduate of Chartiers Valley High School in the Pittsburgh area, committed to play his collegiate football at Duquesne University. Kuntz was inducted into the Duquesne Athletics Hall of Fame on Jan. 29. During is decorated tenure with the Dukes, Kuntz was a three-time All-American, a part of three NEC Conference titles, recorded 30.5 sacks which was a program record and 71.5 tackles for loss which ranks sixth all-time in FCS history.
Salary cap and future: Christian Kuntz agreed to a three-year, $3.765 million contract extension with the Steelers on March 14, 2024. This season, Kuntz will count for $1.16 million against the Steelers cap space. He is signed with the Steelers through the end of the 2026 season.
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