With the biggest moment of his football career just days away, Chris Stoll is well aware that one off-the-cuff remark before his sophomore year at DeSales changed the trajectory of his life.
“I definitely didn’t think I would be here when I first said as a sophomore that I would love to [long] snap on varsity,” Stoll, the long snapper for the Seattle Seahawks, told The Dispatch last week as he prepared for Super Bowl LX. “I just said to my coaches, ‘Any chance someone can teach me how to do that?’ ”
As a quarterback for the junior varsity team who knew that backup time behind center might be the only way he would play on Friday nights, Stoll was just looking for a way to contribute.
That began a road that took him to long snapping camps, earned him a walk-on opportunity at Penn State – where he was named the nation’s best at his position as a senior in 2022 – and saw him join the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2023.
He made Seattle’s 53-player roster shortly before that season began, and there he has stayed.
Top-seeded in the NFC after a 14-3 regular season, the Seahawks will face New England on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California.
“There is definitely some excitement but also, we just want to kind of keep everything the same,” Stoll said. “We’ve had a whole process and routine to get us to this game so we don’t want to change up too much, but we do want to enjoy the moment. Some guys play a long time in this league and never get to reach this game.”
Stoll’s work has not gone unnoticed, even if he might prefer keeping a low profile. He received one first-place vote for All-Pro at his position.
“As snappers we don’t get a lot of attention,” he said. “Most of us prefer it that way.”
Although four former Ohio State players will figure in the Super Bowl, including Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Stoll will be the only central Ohio native on the field and first former DeSales player to start in the game.
Primarily a hockey and lacrosse player growing up, Stoll started two games at quarterback as a junior and was a three-year varsity attacker for DeSales’ lacrosse team. Earning third-team all-state lacrosse honors in Division II as a senior, Stoll temporarily picked up faceoff responsibilities when the roster dictated.
“He outworks everybody around him,” DeSales lacrosse coach Matt Triplet said.
Several camp visits and extensive work with Pickerington Central football coach Jeff Lomonico, a onetime long snapper at Ohio University, helped Stoll earn an offer to walk on at Penn State.
“He just wanted to be a sponge, take it all in and do whatever he could to help the team,” DeSales football coach Ryan Wiggins said. “At our youth camp, I tell the story of Chris Stoll. When we do individual specialties, I remind the guys to take it seriously. You never know when a specialty might get you somewhere … and I have proof. Chris Stoll signed an NFL contract.”
Stoll redshirted for two years at Penn State and in 2021 was nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy, awarded to the best Football Bowl Subdivision player who started as a walk-on.
The next year, Stoll won the Patrick Mannelly Award as the nation’s best long snapper.
His parents, Westerville residents Ken and Kelly Stoll, as well as older sister Jordan, wife Maddie and her parents and siblings, will be in Santa Clara.
For all of Chris’ accomplishments, Ken said he still reminds Chris that he has some catching up to do within the family. Ken won a North Coast Athletic Conference football championship at Wittenberg, Jordan won an Ohio Athletic Conference track and field title at Otterbein and Maddie was a three-time Big Ten championship soccer player at Penn State.
“If he wins the Super Bowl though,” Ken said, “I think he’ll trump us all.”
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Seahawks’ Chris Stoll takes long (snapping) journey to Super Bowl
Reporting by Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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