Long snapper cuts short camping trip and locates passport to sign with Jaguars in London

WATFORD, England (AP) — Jacob Bobenmoyer had tossed his passport in a bathroom drawer at some point, figuring he’s not leaving the country anytime soon.

Then the Jacksonville Jaguars reached out. They needed a long snapper — in London.

“They called me and I was like ‘man I hope it’s still there,’” Bobenmoyer said.

It was.

Jacksonville signed Bobenmoyer to its practice squad after long snapper Ross Matiscik injured his shoulder in last Sunday’s 19-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Jags remained in town for Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans at Wembley Stadium.

Bobenmoyer explained after practice Thursday the sequence of events leading to his unlikely trip to London.

He was on a camping trip with his two young children in Colorado — where they live — when his agent texted him about being contacted by the Jags. The team had reached out during the game.

So, Bobenmoyer cut short the camping trip and drove home in case he’d need to leave that night, “and that’s exactly what happened.” He said he was “changing diapers and whatnot when the Jaguars called me and told me that they’re flying me out.”

With his wife out of town, Bobenmoyer arranged childcare — they also have several dogs — with his mother-in-law and drove to Denver for an overnight flight to London. He arrived midday Monday.

“Yeah, it was a whirlwind,” he said.

Matiscik has not practiced this week because of the injury. The Jags would need to elevate Bobenmoyer off the practice squad for him to play Sunday.

The 29-year-old Bobenmoyer played the past three seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders and before that spent three years with the Denver Broncos. He played linebacker and long snapper at Northern Colorado.

“I just train and work out exactly how I would exactly how I would if I was with a team,” he said. “It paid off.”

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