It's a snap for Hodel

Nathan Hodel snaps for the Cardinals during Super Bowl XLIII. (Reuters)

New Patriots long snapper Nathan Hodel, who will compete with rookie Jake Ingram to replace Lonie Paxton, recently spoke with members of the New England media.

Behind every long snapper there is usually a story, and Hodel, who signed a one-year deal with a $745,000 base salary in March, is no different.

The veteran, who handled every long snap for the Arizona Cardinals from 2002 to 2008, recounted how he got into one of football's oddest fraternities.

"They lined us all up my freshman year of high school, and I was the only one that could do it," said Hodel, who attended Belleville East High in Illinois. "I snapped through high school. I thought it was a curse because I never left the field, everybody else got to go off when we punted.

"I went to a summer camp at Illinois, and the third day people were staying out to snap. I was like I already know how to do it, but I went out anyway because there was some kid that was bragging like he was the best guy. I went out and snapped a little bit and the coaches saw it, and they had me walk on to Illinois."

Long snapping in college was one thing for Hodel, but he didn't harbor any visions of an NFL career until his college coach contacted him.

"This is just something that happened," said Hodel, who began his career with Carolina in 2001. "I was in graduate school finishing up my MBA at Illinois and my college coach called me and said, 'Who is your agent?' I said, 'Quit screwing with me, man. I'm sitting here drinking a beer, watching TV. I'm done with football, whatever, man.'

"He told me he was serious, and I called the only guy I knew in the league and got a hold of his agent, and he was like, 'Well, maybe I'll represent you.' Going on nine years later ... I think there are a lot of stories like that with long snappers. It's something that just kind of happens. You're real grateful that it did."

Hodel was a college teammate of Cardinals place-kicker Neil Rackers at Illinois. He was Arizona's long snapper when Rackers set an NFL record with 40 field goals in 2005.