LONDON — Years ago, in the backyard of his Arlington Heights home, Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet used to spend time with his dad and brothers dabbling in the art of long snapping.
Why not, right?
His uncle, Jeff Zgonina, had experience with that skill throughout a 17-year career as an NFL defensive tackle. And as Kmet envisioned his climb to football’s highest heights, he learned early how to adopt a “the more you can do” mindset.
“It was just thinking, like, if you ever needed to make a team and if you’re a guy who’s the 54th or 55th guy (on the roster) and they are deciding between two guys,” he said, “if you have that ability, maybe they are going to keep you on the roster for those type of things.”
For the last eight seasons — three at Notre Dame and five with the Bears — that long-snapping trade was just something Kmet kept in his back pocket, confident he could step up in a pinch if needed but also chronically anxious about that possibility.
“You have to have somebody who can be the emergency (snapper),” Kmet said. “And I’m that guy. Reluctantly at times.”
Then Sunday came.
In the first quarter of the Bears’ 35-16 blowout of the Jacksonville Jaguars, long snapper Scott Daly injured his left knee while covering a punt. He was in agony instantly and declared out for the game quickly. Out of nowhere, Kmet felt a tap from special teams coordinator Richard Hightower.
“Scott is hurt,” Hightower told Kmet.
To which the fifth-year tight end offered a puzzled look.
“I’m like, ‘Tyler Scott is hurt?,’” Kmet said, referring to the Bears wide receiver. “‘OK. Why does that affect me?’
“He’s like, ‘You need to get snaps in.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, (bleep), I’ve got to go snap right now.’”
Just like that, Kmet’s day had been altered, his responsibilities increased.
“My biggest nightmare came true,” he quipped.
You know the NFL mantra of “Next man up”? Well, Kmet is that next man at long snapper for the Bears, a role, he jokes, that just sort of found him.
“Someone (in the Bears organization) found out that I did it in high school,” Kmet said. “These guys know everything about you.”
So, yes, it became an incredibly eventful, nerve-wracking and productive afternoon for Kmet at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the Bears rolled to their third straight win.
His five catches and 70 yards? Both team highs.
His two touchdowns? Both came during an explosive second quarter for the offense as the Bears awakened from a slow start to build a 14-3 halftime lead.
His six long snaps? Well, the five on extra-point tries were satisfactory enough. Cairo Santos made all of those kicks.
But on a 43-yard Santos field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter, Kmet’s snap to holder Tory Taylor was a touch slow and a bit high. Jaguars defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris came flying off the edge to block that kick.
“The operation is just a lot different between a professional long snapper and a backup,” Santos said. “We just told Cole to snap a comfortable ball and then Tory and I would make it right. But the timing is usually off. I don’t know how much slower it was. And Jacksonville was rushing really hard because they knew there was blood in the water.”
Stuff happens, ya know? Still, Santos nominated Kmet as his special teams player of the week.
“In a pinch like that? To get thrown into a game situation like that, it was impressive,” Santos said.
Inside a jubilant Bears locker room, there was nothing but praise for Kmet and all he contributed to the blowout victory. Keenan Allen, for one, was tickled that Kmet’s 31-yard touchdown — which gave the Bears the lead for good early in the second quarter — was followed immediately by a Kmet PAT snap.
“We were talking about it on the sideline,” Allen said. “I don’t think we had ever seen that, a guy who can score a touchdown and then do the (extra-point) snap.”
Two drives later, Kmet scored again, this time on a 2-yard throw from Caleb Williams. And then, of course, he snapped again.
Fellow tight end Marcedes Lewis couldn’t help but feel heightened respect for how willing and resilient Kmet remained throughout a demanding day, providing a major spark to the offense while serving as a Band-Aid for the kicking operation.
“I mean, that was just a dude being a dude,” Lewis said. “Cole comes to work every single day ready to work. He lives football, man. And that’s why our relationship has become special.
“He reminds me of myself back in my prime, being able to block, catch the rock and do all those things. And then to go in there and long snap? Come on, man. Seriously. Come on, man. He’s just one of those dudes you want to have in your corner.”
For those sensing something special about this Bears team right now, those feelings are understandable. For starters, Williams sure seems like the real deal at quarterback, throwing four more TD passes Sunday and having propelled the offense to 71 points over the last two games.
The defense, meanwhile, remains as steady as ever. Despite playing without starting safety Jaquan Brisker and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and losing nickel corner Kyler Gordon to a hamstring injury in the second half, the Bears extended their streak of holding opponents to 21 points or fewer to 12 games.
Some of the magic building within this team stems from the surplus of character the Bears have inside their locker room, particularly from leaders like Kmet who embody a “win-first” mentality and a daily dedication to squeezing the most out of themselves.
Through six games, Kmet has 26 catches, 289 yards, three touchdowns and an undeniable rapport growing with Williams. His long-snapping work, meanwhile, drew the spotlight he never wanted it to Sunday.
Sure, Kmet gets a bit of emergency snapping work during each practice week. Just as backup quarterback Tyson Bagent does as the emergency holder. But Kmet estimated that’s maybe three snaps per week, not exactly a ton of time on task.
“At the end of the day, that’s kind of what this league is,” Kmet said. “You just have to plug and play sometimes. Guys are playing out of position here and there. It just happened to be me today.”
Maybe it was for the best, then, that Kmet’s first snap came after his stadium-shaking 31-yard touchdown catch in the first half, a well-designed and terrifically executed throw up the seam after Williams faked screen passes to both sides.
After engaging with defensive end Travon Walker at the snap, Kmet broke wide open down the middle, caught Williams’ pass at the Jacksonville 13-yard line, then bulled over safety Andre Cisco near the 10 before fighting through a final tackle attempt by cornerback Montaric Brown.
Out of breath and with his adrenaline still pumping, Kmet quickly had to change hats.
“You’re so tired on the field,” he said, “that it’s just, ‘OK, I’m going to shoot this ball between my legs real quick and get this over with.’”
All in all, that part of things went pretty well, too, adding to an afternoon in which the Bears showed again they’re fully capable of taking care of business. No matter the country they’re in. No matter their circumstances. No matter what unpredictable twists come their way.
As an accomplished baseball player, Kmet already knew how to hit a curveball. And he did that Sunday in multiple ways, punctuating his second touchdown with his signature end-zone celebration — a baseball swing for the fences.
Then he quickly turned around and snapped for the extra point.
