Phantoms Of The Kick Off: Capturing NFL Special Teamers That Never Made It At Their Actual Position (Part 4 of 5)
Welcome back to part four of Phantoms of the Kick Off. It's summer which means no football so why not run some fun research projects you won't find anywhere else including this quest to find the most prolific perenial special teams player of all time that never really made it at their actual position.
Today I want to talk about a couple names from the list above: Don Jones and Chase Reynolds. They come in second and third place respecitvely in number of games to start their career only playing special teams. Jones with 43. Reynolds with 38. #1 will have to wait until tomorrow as he's the Secretariat of the phantoms.
Don Jones - Phantom #2A
Safety Don Jones played 966 special teams snaps in his career from 2013-2016 and zero snaps at his actual position. Now you might recall from an earlier edition that Luke Glasgow, or whatever the hell his name was, holds the all-time record for most special teams snaps without any offense or defene snaps at 495. How come Don Jones' 966 don't dwarf this? Well, because his only snap was on offense. Needless to say, he didn't get the ball on that play either which - I'll just assume - was a fake punt.
To fully comprehend what 966 plays without any at the actual position or even side of the field a guy played, here's a really zoomed out fuzzy view of every one of his game stats with defense snaps five columns from the right (including the blank end column):
Here's the good news. Despite dealing with all this BS, my man Don Jones is a SUPER BOWL WINNER! Most effiicient safety in NFL history if you ask me! Zero position plays. One ring.
Chase Reynolds - Phantom #2B
Speaking of one-play wonders, running back Chase Reynolds makes an impressive bid himself with one play as a running back and get this... 1,200 snaps at special teams. After 38 games of nothing but special teams, he finally took the field on offense for a single play in game #39. Here are his stats on that play:
He would go on to play in a total of 59 games and never once step on the field as a running back. However, our guy went out with a bang in his final game. January 10, 2017. Cardinals vs Reynold's Rams. Good things come to those who wait (sometimes) and Reynolds blocked a punt late in the first half. This bought him his big chance. 4th and 1 and Johnny Hekker looks his way for a completion of four yards to move the sticks. What a moment. You have to know his teammates knew he never had a chance on the field until that play. You could imagine the morale boost that would give him and the rest of the Rams for the rest of the game.
The Cardinals won 44 to 6.
One more of these to go. Who could possibly be the most prolific noboday in NFL snap count data history? Tune in tomorrow.