We’ve noted a few times this offseason that for all the uncertainty surrounding the lockout, undrafted rookies might be the people who are in the greatest state of uncertainty. And when you’re an undrafted rookie long snapper, that uncertainty increases exponentially.
Danny Aiken was a long snapper at Virginia and the only long snapper invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, but he wasn’t drafted. Now he isn’t sure whether he should keep living at home and helping his mom with her landscaping business while putting most of his energy into practicing his long snapping, or if he should put his degree from Virginia to good use elsewhere.
“If it drags out longer, I’ll probably have to find a real job somewhere and figure a way to make everything work —- helping my mom, snapping and everything else,” Aiken told the Washington Post. “But I’ll take that step when it comes. As of right now, all I can do is try to be prepared for the day the lockout does finally end.”
There probably aren’t a lot of “real jobs” looking to hire football players planning to quit just as soon as the lockout ends, so Aiken’s prospects probably aren’t great. Aiken will just need to hope the lockout ends soon. Like the rest of us.