For specialists, the Super Bowl could be in their hands

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New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski (3) streches with long snapper Danny Aiken (48) and punter Zoltan Mesko (14) during practice on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, in Indianapolis. The Patriots are scheduled to face the New York Giants in NFL football Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Updated: March 5, 2012 8:05AM

INDIANAPOLIS — When New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes lined up for the potential game-winning field goal in overtime in the NFC Championship Game against San Francisco, most of America saw the same thing — a chip shot from 31 yards out.

What New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski saw was a soggy field that could make a kicker slip. A brisk wind that could make a kicker overthink. Then he saw the one thing that can make a kicker panic — a bad snap.

Zak DeOssie’s snap skittered off the ground before it was snatched by holder Steve Weatherford, who deftly put it on its end and spun the laces out.

The kick was perfect and the Giants were in the Super Bowl.

“That was a great hold and a great kick,” Gostkowski said. “That’s not as easy as it looked.”

As Super Bowl XLVI draws ever closer, the spotlight continues to shine on Tom Brady and Eli Manning, Rob Gronkowski and Victor Cruz, Jason Pierre-Paul and Vince Wilfork.

But Super Bowls often come down to the specialists — a fact both these teams know well. Adam Vinatieri won two of the Patriots’ three championships with last-second field goals. And the Giants won Super Bowl XXV on a missed 47-yarder by Buffalo’s Scott Norwood.

Perhaps no spotlight shines brighter than the one on a kicker at the end of a game. But as Weatherford proved in San Francisco, the kicker’s not the only one out there who can win it or lose it.

“That’s a job that I have that I don’t really get any credit for,” said Weatherford, who’s better known as the Giants punter. “But at the same time, I take it very seriously. I hold the success of another man’s job in my hands. And Lawrence is a dear friend of mine. I know his wife and kids. And if he doesn’t do well, then they’re not eating. So I do my best and I take it seriously.”

So you might not know DeOssie or Weatherford well. You might not know that rookie Danny Aiken is the Patriots’ long-snapper, or that punter Zoltan Mesko is Gostkowski’s holder.

And if all goes well on Sunday, most people still won’t know them. Because, usually, the only way a long-snapper or holder becomes part of the conversation is when he messes up. Think of Tony Romo’s botched hold for Dallas in the 2006-07 playoffs against Seattle. Or Trey Junkin’s blown snap for the Giants against the 49ers in the 2002-03 playoffs.

“Sure, there’s pressure, but that’s the position you want to be in — a chance to win the game, to win the Super Bowl,” said Aiken, New England’s fourth long-snapper in the last three seasons. “That’s an awesome position to be in. It’s what you dream about. You just have to focus on what you’re doing and realize it’s no different than what you’ve done so many times before.”

Weatherford agreed.

“The pressure that you have on yourself is not pressure unless you let it be pressure,” he said. “So if you treat it like any other play, it’s not that bad — just like having a catch with your dad in the back yard.”

Well, sort of. The long-snapper has to flick a perfect spiral 7 yards back to the holder, on a low line drive. Gostkowski said a kicker has 1.3 seconds to kick the ball once it’s snapped, or it’s likely to be blocked. So snap too high, you might lose the Super Bowl. Snap too low, you might lose the Super Bowl. Snap too slow, you might lose the Super Bowl.

No pressure, though.

“If the snap and the hold are good, most of the time, guys in the NFL are going to make the kick,” Gostkowski said. “But people don’t realize that one little thing can throw the whole kick off.”

Of course, it’s not like these guys don’t practice this stuff. Mesko said he and Aiken get “several dozen” snaps and holds in a day. The job is so crucial, Aiken not only was drafted as solely a long-snapper, he was recruited out of high school solely as a long-snapper. That’s all he did as a scholarship player at Virginia.

In fact, the art of the long snap has become so refined, Gostkowski said a good long-snapper can actually make sure the holder catches the ball with the laces out almost every single time.

“You don’t want to see that ball spinning (in the holder’s hands),” Gostkowski said. “When they catch it and put it down and you see the fat part of the ball, it’s like a pitcher hanging a curveball right down the middle. You see it really well and you feel like you’re going to make it.”

So if Sunday’s game comes down to a field-goal attempt, or even an extra point, most fans will probably be focusing on the kicker. And if the kick is good, he’ll be the one who gets all the credit.

That’s just fine with the two other guys who helped make it happen. Because in their line of work, anonymity means success.

“It’s quite the specialization,” Mesko said. “The people that appreciate it are your teammates, especially your kicker and your snapper. We’re one unit working together.”