Steve Wirtel
Long Snapper / Iowa State
Ed Hunt: How do you feel going into your first Senior Bowl practice?
Steve Wirtel: You know, I’m excited and confident at the same time. I think like every guy here, we’re all here for a reason. We all have the right to be confident in ourselves. The biggest thing is, there will be a lot of guys out there. Between head coaches and scouts and GMs and NFL teams, but at the end of the day we are all football players. We’re confident and we’re excited and kind of anxious for this first practice. I think it’s cool we get a little head start on learning NFL concepts and an NFL scheme and an NFL playbook. I’m just really excited for today.
Ed Hunt: What would you say your best fit in the NFL is?
Steve Wirtel: Best fit for me would probably be long snapper which is what I’m here to do, but I’m a guy who takes a lot of pride in being athletic. I think that’s one thing that has set me aside from other long snappers in this country. Being a guy who played both ways in high school to a guy who would always mess around with the coaches. If you ever need me at another spot, put me there and a lot of the scouts they’ve taken a notice of my athleticism and you’re a guy who looks like you could play linebacker. I would be more than happy to if I had to, but even if it’s playing another special team as well.
Ed Hunt: Can you walk me through what it’s like game on the line, last minute field goal. What goes through a long snapper’s head?
Steve Wirtel: Yeah, treat it like any other snap. It was last year, we played against Texas. We beat them on a last second field goal. It was the first one of my Iowa State career kind of the last second and the biggest thing that I told myself was it’s the same yardage as a snap whether it’s in my backyard or in a stadium with 65,000 there. Just taking it as a one-snap mentality is what my motto has been and you have to treat each snap the same.
Ed Hunt: What can you tell me about David Montgomery?
Steve Wirtel: David’s my guy. I was fortunate to call David my teammate and a friend forever. The thing that’s contagious about David is the choices he makes on and off the field. David was a guy off the field who wasn’t a regular college kid. He was in that facility at 11:00 on a Friday night working his tail off and it shows on Saturday. In my opinion, he was the best running back in the nation and what he can do now. I think he has set himself up for success in his career. I think David’s greatest strength is his leadership. David was a guy that I relied on and being a captain, he’s truthful with you. He hopes you are truthful with him as well and the best thing about David was definitely his leadership traits.
Ed Hunt: What has your special teams coach taught you most?
Steve Wirtel: I think he has just taught me to just be confident in myself and understand that you know I’m there for a reason. It all just starts with you being confident. On field goals and punts and a guy who just gets to play. I trust that everything I’ve learned to this point, it’s just going to help me at the end of the day.
