Long snappers don’t have statistics, only consequences. They aren’t supposed to be in the spotlight. If they are, it’s probably because something bad has happened.

Even if all goes well, others get the glory.

They are football’s forgotten position. To them, being successful means basking in anonymity.

Stanford sophomore Richard McNitzky — a MacArthur graduate — is one of college football’s best deep snappers that no one knows about.

“If no one notices you, that means you’ve done your job,” said McNitzky, whose No. 13 Cardinal (9-4) take on No. 15 TCU (10-3) in the 25th Valero Alamo Bowl on Thursday at the Alamodome.

“I’m OK with that. I’ve always gotten recognition from my teammates and coaches. That’s the most important thing.”

McNitzky snaps only on punts; someone else handles deep snaps on field goal attempts. A two-year starter, McNitzky has been successful on every punt snap, 107 of them. The last time he messed up and snapped a ball over the punter’s head?

More Information If you go What: Valero Alamo Bowl When: 8 p.m Thursday Where: Alamodome Who: No. 13 Stanford vs. No. 15 TCU Tickets: Starting at $31 through Ticketmaster

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“Not since high school,” he said. “Knock on wood.”

Welcome to the world of the long snapper. Traditionally given to third-string tight ends or linemen, the position now has become specialized.

To McNitzky and others, it’s become an art form.

“It’s one of the only positions in sports where you’re expected to be 100 percent perfect on every play,” he said. “That means you have to be mentally tough. Every snap’s a new snap. It doesn’t matter what you did on the last one. The key is being consistent.”

McNitzky said he’s comfortable in his own long-snapping skin. He doesn’t fantasize about playing other positions or being in the limelight.

He played a little center, tight end and linebacker growing up. But he didn’t like football at first, concentrating instead on baseball.

He tried football again at Garner Middle School, where he was introduced to long snapping.

“For some reason I had a natural ability for it,” McNitzky recalls. “So I went to a couple of camps my eighth-grade year. That’s when I started working with Doug Conrey. He really helped me perfect my craft and get me to where I am.”

A San Antonian, Conrey is one of the nation’s top long-snapping gurus. He owns a company called Texas Long Snapping and runs the state’s premier year round long-snapping camp, according to his website.

A former assistant high school coach Roosevelt and Churchill, Conrey was a long snapper while playing for Lee High School in the mid-1960s.

He played on Lee’s 1965 team that lost to Odessa Permian in the Class 4A state championship game, and later at Texas Lutheran and Sam Houston State.

“I can look at a kid, and if he’s any kind of athlete at all I can train him (to long snap),” said Conrey, who estimates he’s helped about 30 long snappers earn college scholarships. “The most important thing is accuracy and hard work. Richard was very raw, but he was coachable.”

McNitzky said he “gripped it and ripped it” when it came to his specialized skill until he met Conrey.

“He was like, ‘Wow, you have no technique but you’re somehow snapping a ball better than 90 percent of the other kids in America in your grade. Let me show you the proper form and you can play in college,’ ” McNitzky recalled Conrey saying. “So I just ran with it. The next thing I know I’m being recruited by colleges.”

Normally a position given to walk-ons, McNitzky had several scholarship offers, including UTEP, New Mexico, Air Force, Army and Stanford.

He chose Stanford for its high athletic and academic standing. A political science major with an emphasis on law, McNitzky maintains a 3.89 GPA and recently was named to the Pac-12 Conference’s All-Academic first team.

“Everyone here want to push themselves athletically and academically,” McNitzky said. “It’s been a great experience.”

Stanford coach David Shaw said McNitzky is “one of those guys you love to have on your team.”

“He has all of the traits you want,” Shaw said. “He’s very consistent and dependable. He works extremely hard, has a lot of passion and takes a lot of pride in his performance. He’s one of those guys who wants to be perfect.”

So far, McNitzky has succeeded.

He said the most difficult part of being a long snapper is avoiding the temptation to watch the ball all the way back to the punter. In college, to do so would be dangerous.

Once the ball is snapped, a deep snapper has to lift his head and be prepared to fend off hard-charging defensive linemen or linebackers attempting to block the punt.

“That was the hardest thing I had to overcome,” McNitzky said. “I didn’t win the job (as a freshman) until late in fall camp because it’s such a difficult thing to master. I still haven’t mastered it but I’m getting better at it.”

There’s the blocking aspect to long snapping as well as getting down the field in punt coverage after the ball is kicked. McNitzky is a solid 6-feet-1, 216 pounds and participates in tackling drills with some of the position players.

“I try to make the most of my position by forcing a fumble or making a solo tackle,” he said. “They come only once in a while. When they do they’re pretty special.”

McNitzky’s one tackle this season came against Pac-12 rival UCLA.

He said he’s excited about playing at the Alamodome for the first time since high school. He plans to give 25 tickets to family and friends for the game.

They’ll likely be the only ones watching the Stanford long snapper wearing No. 69.

McNitzky wouldn’t have it any other way.

jwhisler@express-news.net

Twitter: @johnfwhisler