EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Long snappers are the afterthoughts of the NFL draft. Players from the service academies, on track to join the military and not pro sports, are largely ignored.
Still, here was Austin Cutting, a seventh-round pick out of the Air Force Academy, sharpening his specialist skills in rookie minicamp on Friday with the Minnesota Vikings and taking the first step toward what would be an unlikely, complicated and potentially inspiring career in the league.
“It was just good to be out here for the first time,” Cutting said, “so I loved it.