When Lachlan Edwards punts during Jets games, he tries to give the opposition poor field position. When he punts during those final few moments before kickoff, Edwards has a different objective.
“I’m trying not to kill cheerleaders,” Edwards said.
And not just cheerleaders. Marching bands. Honor guards. Drum lines. Flag-wielding civilians.
The pageantry in the N.F.L. differs from week to week, stadium to stadium, but it always poses a challenge to the specialists — punters, kickers and long snappers — working on their craft one final time, before a game or the second half. A regulation field measures 360 feet by 160 feet, and minute by minute, much of it is overtaken by spectacle — inflatable helmets and enormous flags and meandering mascots.