Allen Park — Not every goal is meant to be realized, and for most high school and college athletes, there’s a moment when you come to grips with the fact you’re not cut out to play a sport professionally.
Scott Daly has always rejected that moment.
Despite door after door closing more than four years after he graduated from Notre Dame, and even though he toed a tipping point months into the pandemic — going as far to getting licensed to pursue a backup profession — his patience and persistence finally paid off this summer.
Months away from conceding another opportunity wasn’t going to come, Daly received a call from the Detroit Lions. Sure, it was the longest of shots, an offseason competition against a beloved, 17-year veteran, but it turns out that foot in the door was enough to get the ball rolling on the improbable.
This weekend, Daly will return home to Chicago as the Lions long snapper.
Next in line
The Lions haven’t needed a long snapper in nearly two decades, since they signed Don Muhlbach as an injury replacement in 2004. Highly proficient and highly durable, he would go on to appear in 260 games, the second-most in franchise history behind only kicker Jason Hanson.
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And there was little reason to believe Muhlbach wouldn’t handle those duties again in 2021. He had fended off stiff challenges in recent years, including draft pick Jimmy Landes in 2016 and Steven Wirtel, a Patrick Mannelly finalist as the NCAA’s best snapper, last year.
Wirtel gave Muhlbach a run for his money, and some in the building even believed he won the job. The Lions wanted him back in the offseason, but Wirtel wanted assurances the job would be his. Detroit’s new coach Dan Campbell doesn’t believe in those types of guarantees. He needed Wirtel to win the job on the field, and without a promise from the team, he opted to sign a futures deal with the Los Angeles Rams.
To be clear, the Lions weren’t actively looking to boot Muhlbach, they just wanted him to compete for his job, like anyone else on the roster. Regardless, as special teams coordinator Dave Fipp noted, the Lions ideally hoped to have a young option waiting in the wings when Muhlbach’s career would inevitably come to an end.
“We knew we had Muhlbach, but we also knew, at some point the end was closer than further away,” Fipp said. “I wouldn’t say we were trying to replace him, but we knew, at some point, we were looking for the next guy.”
Fipp figured Detroit’s best option was going to be scooping up a player from another team’s roster at some point during the offseason. But Wirtel’s abrupt departure created a level of urgency, so the coach keep his eyes and ears open.
People don’t realize it, but coaches are constantly flooded with emails from agents pitching their clients. Every time his kicker sent a field goal wide or his punter shanked one off the side of his foot, Fipp could count on a half-dozen emails offering alternatives.
Normally, he’d quickly delete those messages, but knowing he needed another long snapper, he decided to look through a list of clients an agent sent him to see if he could unearth a diamond. As he worked through the film of each name, he was caught off guard by Daly’s tape. It was good. Really good. So Fipp passed it on to Lance Newmark, Detroit’s director of player personnel, to confirm the initial impression.
Newmark, too, liked what he saw and the Lions signed Daly a couple weeks later.
The winding road
Since finishing up at Notre Dame in 2016, Daly has had his share of opportunities, but nothing stabilized. As an undrafted rookie, he signed with the Dallas Cowboys, but proved unable to unseat their version of Muhlbach, L.P. Ladouceur.
From there, Daly went to the AFL and XFL, two leagues that folded before completing their first season. And it’s not like playing football outside the NFL is lucrative. Before taxes and agent fees, he made a little more than $70,000 for the 13 games he played across those two years.
After the XFL declared bankruptcy in May last year, Daly began to consider alternatives. Putting his management consulting degree he earned from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business to use, he started studying to become a licensed financial adviser.
“I’m not going to lie, it was tough, but I just had this confidence in myself that I knew if I performed the way I knew I was capable of performing that things would work out,” Daly said. “I found out over the years with specialists, and long snappers especially, a lot of it is timing, being in the right place at the right time and taking advantage of those opportunities.”
Before the Lions called, Daly hadn’t had so much as a tryout for the eight months. He last worked out for the Patriots in September, the day before he took the final exam to earn his financial advising license.
“I was studying for my exam as I was getting ready to work out for New England,” Daly said. “It’s pretty funny looking back.”
The Patriots didn’t call back, but Daly passed the exam. With no immediate NFL prospects on the horizon, he began working for a well-known financial institution in Chicago.
Just like his approach to football, he dove head first into financial advising. He found the principles of hard work and discipline he had honed playing football naturally translated to the new profession.
Still, when he clocked out at the end of the day, his focus remained on football. Every night he was working on something to keep his dream alive.
“I’d usually snap three days a week, but training almost every single day, whether it was lifting, conditioning or active recovery,” Daly said. “I was always trying to do something every day. I would try to get all my work done in the morning, right when I’d wake up, to get that stuff done with, to be able to have the rest of the day, evenings, nights, to work out, train, snap, whatever I had to do.”
But unofficially, he set a deadline. If he didn’t hear from a team in a calendar year, he would let go of the idea of playing in the NFL. At that point, he would know he was no longer on the radar.
The right stuff
For Fipp, there are three key things he’s looking for with a snapper. Consistency with ball placement tops the list. If the snapper can do that, next up is the speed of his delivery. If it’s too slow, you can immediately rule the player out. Finally, it’s the ability to transition into protection, which is often projection because many college teams handle punts so differently.
Fortunately for Daly, he had tape from the XFL, which required him to execute a pro system. Sure, there were areas to clean up, but Fipp could see a player who clearly checked all the boxes.
In the middle of August, on his 40th birthday, the Lions made the decision to part with Muhlbach. Age had finally caught up with his ability to perform to the expected standard, or, as Campbell summed it up when he made the announcement, “It is time.”
In that same media session, Campbell also announced that despite appearances, Daly wasn’t locked into the role. The situation was still being evaluated with two preseason games to go, something Fipp confirmed.
“At that time, (Daly) had not won on the job,” Fipp said. “We were not saying this guy won the job, we found him, we’re good.”
The Lions continued to explore other options, including getting a call from the Rams, who pitched shipping Wirtel back to Detroit via a trade. But after struggling through his first practice post-Muhlbach — when the weight of the moment was the heaviest — Daly started making rapid, noticeable strides.
By the end of the training camp, the improvement was clear and the Lions knew they had their guy.
Living a dream
On Sunday, Daly estimates he’ll have 35 friends and family members in the stands at Soldier Field; mom, dad, sister, high school buddies and the such. His wife and biggest supporter, Monica Robinson Daly, will also be there.
The two met at Notre Dame, where Robinson was the No. 1 player for the school’s tennis team. Amusingly, she’s already experienced the life of being a pro athlete, playing two years on the WTA before settling into a coaching job at the University of Arizona.
At this point, between her tennis schedule that took her across the world and Daly’s stints in Dallas, San Antonio, New York and now Detroit, they’ve mastered the unique strains of doing things long distance.
“We stuck it through and we’re just grateful for this opportunity,” Daly said. “I would not be here without her.”
So far, so good. Through three games, the snapping operation has looked clean with both punts and field goals. Daly is holding up his end of the bargain, delivering on what Fipp first saw on film and then on the practice field.
“He’s been outstanding,” Fipp said.
Still, even though he’s settling into the routine of living his dream, it’s not fair to say Daly is comfortable. That financial advising gig he started last summer, he hasn’t quit. He’s on leave, you know, just in case.
“I just wanted to have my bases covered because the NFL stands for ‘Not For Long’ and even if I was able to get sign — luckily I did — you just never know how long it’s going to last,” he said. “I’m obviously hoping for the best, 10-plus year career. At the same time, you just never know, whether it’s injuries or whatever. I just wanted to have that avenue available for whenever it comes up, so I can step into it and not skip a beat.”
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers