Eight Hours at a Time: How Sean Kraft Snapped His Way to Notre Dame

Sean Kraft spent eight hours outside one summer day, throwing a football between his legs.

He wasn't training for a college scholarship. He wasn't chasing a national ranking. At the time, he barely knew how to long snap.

He just couldn't stop.

The next day, Kraft went outside and did it again. Eight more hours. Then he kept at it throughout the summer, drawn to a position he had discovered almost by accident.

“I just loved it so much that I just couldn't stop,” Kraft said. “I just couldn't get enough of it.”

Today, the Christ School senior is one of the nation's top-ranked high school long snappers, an Army All-American selection and a Notre Dame commit.

He is preparing to leave the Asheville, North Carolina, boarding school in the middle of the academic year to begin his college career. Before that, he is scheduled to compete in December's Army All-American Game.

It is a remarkable journey for a player who once spent an entire afternoon simply trying to figure out how to snap a football.

Finding His Position

Football was already part of Kraft's family history.

His father played at Iowa State, and his grandfather played at Georgia Tech. Kraft began playing in sixth grade after previously running cross country, but it took several years for him to discover where he belonged on the football field.

He started on the offensive line, moved to the defensive line and occasionally experimented with long snapping during eighth-grade practices.

Then two friends, Miles and ZJ, encouraged him to give the specialty a serious try.

“I was like, you know what, maybe I'll do it,” Kraft recalled.

He headed outside with a football and began experimenting.

“It was kind of just throwing the ball between the legs kind of thing, trying to figure it out,” Kraft said.

What followed surprised even Kraft.

His first practice lasted approximately eight hours. He returned for another eight-hour session the following day and continued working for hours at a time throughout the summer.

There was no recruiting strategy behind the commitment. No guarantee that long snapping would lead anywhere.

He simply loved doing it.

Early in his freshman season, Kraft was starting on varsity defense, but his enthusiasm for that role began to fade. After three weeks, a senior replaced him in the lineup.

Then a coach asked whether he wanted to long snap.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Kraft recalled answering. “Like, that's all I want to do.”

The opportunity brought relief.

Kraft still enjoyed playing defense, but long snapping had become something different.

“I love playing defense,” Kraft said. “I do. But it's just a different love that the Lord has put on my heart through the long snapping.”

Building a Specialist, One Snap at a Time

Long snapping demands precision, consistency and the ability to execute under pressure.

Kraft embraced all three.

When the football leaves his hands, he wants to know exactly where it will arrive, whether the target is a punter's hip or a holder's bicep.

The satisfaction comes from repeating that result, snap after snap.

It also helps that the position fits his personality.

“I am the most important man on the field when I have the ball, but when I leave, nobody knows my name,” Kraft said. “For me, that's a big deal.”

Unlike a quarterback or star receiver, a long snapper rarely attracts attention when everything goes right.

Kraft prefers it that way.

“I don't really want fame,” Kraft said. “I don't really enjoy the, you know, the pressure of likes and social media, but I definitely enjoy just going out there and doing my job and knowing that I did my job.”

Becoming dependable required thousands of repetitions, many of them outside organized team practices.

During one of his early seasons, Kraft estimated that he received only two punt-snapping repetitions in practice all year.

So he created his own training program.

Some days, he challenged himself to deliver 20 perfect snaps. Other days, the goal was eight consecutive snaps to the same target. When his technique needed adjustment, he focused on his hands, legs or release.

“There's new challenges popping up every day,” he said. “It's not like my form is perfect all the time.”

His family became part of the process.

His parents drove him to camps, retrieved footballs and joined him during workouts. His mother even began traveling with a pillow to help catch his snaps without hurting her hands.

Eventually, the family built a training area at home, complete with turf, targets and a net.

“There's a reason why I spend the majority of my days out there,” Kraft said.

Despite his growing specialization, Kraft never completely abandoned other positions.

After transferring from Asheville Christian Academy to Christ School, he started the first six games of his senior season at outside linebacker.

He believes his experience on the offensive and defensive lines, along with his time at linebacker, helped develop the strength, athleticism and football awareness that make him a better long snapper.

Those positions taught him to recognize blocking schemes and understand what happens around him after delivering the ball.

But snapping remained his passion.

From No. 8 to No. 1 in the Nation

As Kraft began attending specialist camps, he discovered how his skills measured up against other long snappers around the country.

He said he was ranked eighth nationally as a freshman.

Then he climbed.

Third. Fourth. Second.

Eventually, No. 1.

The journey wasn't a steady rise. Kraft slipped in the rankings more than once, including a fall from the top spot back to second before reclaiming No. 1 as his college recruiting opportunities expanded.

For a player who said he had spent much of his life finishing second or falling short in competitions, reaching the top carried special meaning.

“When you're finally first, it's kind of like that relief, like that sigh of relief that I actually made it,” Kraft said. “I actually won something.”

The ranking validated countless hours spent working without an audience or a promise that the effort would produce anything tangible.

Kraft insists the recognition was never his primary motivation.

“When I train, I don't train for results,” he said. “But when you finally see those results come in, it's definitely something to be proud of.”

An Army All-American Honor With Family Meaning

Kraft's development also earned him a selection to the Army All-American Game, scheduled for December.

For the Christ School senior, the recognition still feels difficult to comprehend.

“It's still surreal,” Kraft said. “It definitely hasn't hit yet that I'm even playing in an All-American game.”

The honor carries additional significance because of his family's military background.

His father served in the Marines, and Kraft said other men in his family have served in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.

Family members have joked that Kraft is finally getting a chance to play in their game.

The moment became more tangible when a coach met Kraft for a workout in Asheville and confirmed his selection.

“It was just kind of like a chills moment, really, when you actually know that you're really gonna be All-American,” Kraft said.

Notre Dame Becomes Home

As Kraft's national profile grew, college recruiting brought a different kind of pressure.

He initially worried that his ranking might not translate into scholarship opportunities. Once schools began showing interest, he and his family embarked on an exhausting recruiting schedule.

Kraft said they visited 30 colleges in one month.

He appreciated the opportunities but found the process overwhelming.

“It's definitely a very stressful blessing,” Kraft said. “It's probably the worst blessing in my entire life.”

Growing up, Clemson had been his dream school.

That changed when he visited Notre Dame.

Kraft was impressed by the university's academics, athletic facilities and football program. A conversation with Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman helped him recognize where he wanted to continue his career.

Within a day, Kraft said, he knew he wanted to commit.

“This is home,” Kraft said. “This is where I'm supposed to go.”

Faith played an important role in the decision, just as it had throughout his development as a long snapper.

Kraft views his passion for the position as a gift, particularly because he sometimes struggles to explain why such a specialized football skill means so much to him.

“When I think about it in simple terms, all I do is throw a ball to a guy,” Kraft said. “Like, that's literally all I do.”

But for Kraft, it has never been that simple.

More Than Just a Snap

Kraft hopes his journey eventually leads to a long NFL career.

He is also interested in real estate, property management and coaching, recognizing that football may open doors beyond the playing field.

Whatever direction his life takes, he wants to maintain the same enthusiasm that first sent him outside with a football and kept him there for eight hours.

He didn't begin long snapping because someone promised him a scholarship, an All-American selection or a chance to play at Notre Dame.

He began because he loved it.

The rankings, recruiting attention and college commitment came later.

Now, as he prepares to leave Christ School and begin the next chapter of his football career, Kraft has a simple message for younger specialists hoping to follow a similar path.

“No matter what, don't lose love for the game,” Kraft said. “The reality is that you just can't lose love for it. You just can't.”