Article:NFL Special Teams.

Year after year, so many games are lost on poor special teams plays and players. There are so many free agent punters and kickers battling for an opportunity to land a spot on a roster, why do teams pay $500,000 - $1 million for relics that are has beens? Some of the greatest special teams players I have seen over the years are lost in the shuffle of politics. For example, Darrin Alcorn was a great punter / kicker combo package that had brief stints with the Giants and Arena League. Other great performers were Shayne Boyd, Tim Kallal and Danny Kite. These guys all had on and off pre season action, but always lost out at the end to so called veteran players. Buffalo lost two super bowls because of missed chip shots. The Carolina Panthers lost an NFC championship game due to a bad snap, which leads into another catagory, Long Snapping. I had seen a Long Snapper Rodger Cooper snap over 250 punts in a four hour period, with absolute accuracy, under pressure from punters charting in an NFL special teams combine combine. Again, he had brief stints with the Rams and the Raiders, but could never land a full time roster spot. However, David Binn makes $850,000 annually to snap a ball. Surely there are other guys as good or better for league minimum, enabling higher salary availability for impact players in high profile positions. Last but not least, let's not forget Tony Romo mishandling a low snap to lose a trip to the Super Bowl last year. This year he focused more on a Hollywood bimbo than he did his teammates needs. Surely, there are more hungry and capable players available. What's the deal?