Mike Windt (born May 29, 1986) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

long snapper In gridiron football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a Center (gridiron football), center on American football positions#Special teams, special teams whose duty is to Snap (gridiron football), snap the football over a longer distance, ty ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

College career

Windt had an outstanding three-year career (2007–09) at the University of

. Windt played well in 395 career snaps for the Bearcats.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

After going undrafted in the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

, Windt signed with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

as a rookie free agent on April 24, 2010, he was later cut before the regular season.

San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers

Windt was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

on October 13, 2010. Windt becomes the Chargers' long snapper in 2010.

David Binn David Aaron Binn (born February 6, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a long snapper for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears and was signed b ...

James Dearth James Dearth (born January 22, 1976) is a former American football long snapper. Dearth, who attended Tarleton State University, was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the sixth round of the 1999 NFL draft. He has also been a member of the New ...

and Ryan Neill were all on Injured-Reserve and

Ethan Albright Lawrence Ethan Albright (born May 1, 1971) nicknamed "the Red Snapper" due to his position and his red hair, is an American former professional football player who was a long snapper for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primari ...

snapped in the Chargers' last two games. Windt is arguably most famous for snapping the direct snap and participating in the blocking on the fake punt by

Eric Weddle Eric Steven Weddle (born January 4, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a safety for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the San Diego Chargers. He was a five-time All-Pro and six-time P ...

in the 2013 season finale that propelled the Chargers' winning drive that got the team into the 2013-14 postseason. On March 8, 2017, Windt signed a four-year, $4.41 million contract extension with the Chargers. On August 20, 2019, after playing nine consecutive seasons with the Chargers, he was released in favor of

Cole Mazza Cole Joseph Frank Mazza (born February 14, 1995) is an American professional football long snapper. He played college football at Alabama. College career Mazza was served as the starting long snapper Alabama Crimson Tide for four seasons, inclu ...

who was signed that offseason.

Personal life

Windt was originally born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended Elder High School. He currently resides in San Diego, California with his wife. Windt also has an older brother and a younger sister.

References

External links

Cincinnati BioChargers Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Windt, Mike 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Cincinnati American football long snappers Cincinnati Bearcats football players Cincinnati Bengals players San Diego Chargers players Los Angeles Chargers players Elder High School alumni