There’s one name on the Minnesota Vikings‘ list of Pro Bowl honorees that was a head-scratcher to many fans.
Andrew Depaola.
The Vikings long snapper is just about as much of an average joe as you can find in the NFL. From working at his family’s bar to a seasonal gig at Best Buy, Depaola never gave up on his NFL dreams.
Failing to land on a team until his sixth year out of college, Depaola never had a Plan B, just a belief in himself. Depaola realized his dream, earning his first Pro Bowl mention of his eight-year career at the age of 35.
#Vikings long snapper Andrew DePaola on Pro Bowl: “Like someone just said, if you do your job well enough (as a long snapper), nobody should notice, right? Just for people to take recognition and notice has just been a little overwhelming. It’s been awesome.”
“Like someone just said, if you do your job well enough [as a long snapper], nobody should notice, right? Just for people to take recognition and notice has just been a little overwhelming. It’s been awesome,” Depaola told Pioneer Press reporter Chris Tomasson on December 22. “It’s just wild. It’s just amazing it’s something that growing up you dream of getting to that point where you’re recognized as one of the best at your position in a sport. I believed in myself but just to have it happen, I’m truly honored.”
When head coach Kevin O’Connell announced the Vikings’ five Pro Bowlers and nine alternates at practice, he saved Depaola’s name for last, which was met with the fanfare akin to a star player.
“This guy deserves every bit of the notoriety and the cool factor that comes with the Pro Bowl, our long snapper Andrew Depaola,” O’Connell said before cheers erupted and Depaola was asked to break the huddle down with a speech at practice on December 21.
“Just the embrace from the team. That’s kind of what got me,” Depaola said after breaking the huddle down, per Star Tribune reporter Andrew Krammer. “Z [Za’Darius Smith] was like, ‘don’t cry,’ and I’m like ‘it’s kind of hard not to.’ ”
A very special moment today when Coach O’Connell delivered the news that @KirkCousins8, @JJettas2, @TheeHOCK8, @zadariussmith and @AndrewDePaola have been selected to the Pro Bowl Games.
Depaola tweeted after learning he was the lead vote-getter among long snappers: “This one is entirely on Vikings fandom! I am blown away by the support y’all have shown me these last few weeks, truly. I can’t say thank you enough.”
Vikings LS Andrew Depaolo’s Journey From Porter to Pro Bowler
Courtesy of VikingsVikings long snapper Andrew Depaola earned the first Pro Bowl mention of his career this season.
ESPN’s Courtney Cronin documented Depaola’s rise to becoming an elite long snapper after Depaloa became the second-highest graded player at his position by Pro Football Focus last season.
Five years out of Rutgers, Depaola, 28, still hadn’t made a 53-man roster in the NFL after years of training camps and tryouts.
Andy DePaola quickly realized his eldest son was not cut out to be a bartender.
“He’d take a liter of Tito’s and would get about four drinks out of it, where you’re supposed to get 20,” he said. “We were losing money.”
So instead, whenever Janet and Andy were down an employee at DePaola’s Pub, their neighborhood restaurant where locals flock for burgers, they’d have Andrew wash dishes, sweep the floors and bus tables.
DePaola went undrafted in the spring of 2010 after five seasons at Rutgers. The New Orleans Saints invited him to rookie minicamp as a college tryout but didn’t sign him.
He began working a seasonal shift in the winter of 2010 at Best Buy in Piscataway, New Jersey, where he’d offload HDTVs from the trucks and restock shelves. DePaola’s NFL prospects were the same in spring 2011 – bleak. Rutgers let him use its facilities to train in the meantime.
After brief stints with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Depaola had a job in drafting/computer-aided design work lined up in 2014. He had two workouts with the Buccaneers lined up that May — his final shot at making a roster.
This time Depaola made the roster, beating out Tampa Bay’s incumbent long snapper, Jeremy Cain.
“My husband said Andrew was on the phone, and my shoulders shrunk,” his mother, Janet said, per Cronin. “It’s the end of August; you know the routine. And he goes, ‘Looks like you’re going to have to buy a Tampa Bay jersey.’ ”
“I wanted to break down right there because it was five years of really trying and it finally happened,” Andrew said. “The feeling was indescribable. All these emotions running through your head and questioning where your future was a couple months before that. And just to finally get that, ‘Hey, you made it’ it was surreal.”
Andrew Depaola Missed His Flight to Minnesota, But it Didn’t Matter
Despite making it to the NFL, Depaola had an uphill battle with injuries. He tore his ACL after three seasons with the Buccaneers before he landed with the Chicago Bears.
He tore his ACL again with the then-Oakland Raiders in 2018, leading him to not making any roster in 2019.
Depaola had a workout nearly every week in 2020, according to Cronin, and, to his fortune, Minnesota came calling in November. The Vikings long snapper, Austin Cutting, landed on the COVID-19 reserve list and signed Depaola as an emergency option.
He raced to the airport but couldn’t make the last flight to Minnesota in time to quarantine and be available to play that game.
However, the Vikings called back, signing him to the practice squad to replace Cutting.
Depaola has helped rookie punter Ryan Wright post the second-most punts inside the 20-yard line (31) this season at the fourth-highest rate (47.9%) in the NFL, which has been significant for both defense and special teams.
Here’s a full list of the Vikings’ Pro Bowl selections and alternates:
- Justin Jefferson, WR, starter
- Za’Darius Smith, OLB, starter
- Andrew Depaola, LS, starter
- Kirk Cousins, QB, reserve
- T.J. Hockenson, TE, reserve
- Dalvin Cook, RB, 1st alternate
- C.J. Ham, FB, 1st alternate
- Danielle Hunter, OLB, 1st alternate
- Kene Nwangwu, KR, 1st alternate
- Christian Darrisaw, OT, 2nd alternate
- Garrett Bradbury, C, 2nd alternate
- Harrison Smith, SS, 2nd alternate
- Kris Boyd, ST, 3rd alternate
- Eric Kendricks, ILB, 3rd alternate
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‘I Am Blown Away:’ Unsung Vikings Star Reacts to 1st Pro Bowl Mention