knock knock..whos that? oh yes success

WHY I FOUND SUCCESS IN MY LIFE.

So a lot of times you know I like to joke around and talk goofy about being a snapper and that’s what I am and love doing it but I feel like I should tell you how grateful I am to be a snapper and how grateful I am to play football at the Division 1 level.  But its something that did not always come easy to me and something that I worked harder than anything I had to ever do. Now I also don’t claim to say that I’m perfect as you will read I’m not, but here are some things that helped me get to where I am.

1. BE UNSTOPPABLE. BE. UN. STOPPABLE

When I was younger my dad would talk about wrestling with mike and I all the time. We were always interested in it and couldn’t wait to start. So my opportunity had come to start wrestling. My brother and I were both soo excited. But when I was in 3^rd grade I dislocated my shoulder and then again in 4^th grade I dislocated my shoulder. My dad had told me not to wrestle because of the intensity of the sport on an athlete’s body.

But I assured my dad that I really wanted to do this. I think it was because my brother did, if you know Mike and I at all we always do the same thing, as cliché as being a twin sounds. I loved doing things with mike. I don’t know why I mean look at the guy. Ha-ha. Anyhow My 5^th grade year at wrestling I started out and my first match had come after 2 months of learning and preparing, against Bolingbrook (back when it was known as BJ Brooks) and I was so excited I finally couldn’t wait to wrestle a real live match.

I went out all excited and ready to go. The match lasted :15 and I got pinned and lost. I felt so embarrassed. I didn’t even stand a chance and all my friends had won. I wiped off the loss and went back at it. Every day at practice I was just a “Fish” as the weak kids are known in the wrestling world. I couldn’t do anything; I went back and lost another match. And another. And another. All I could do was loose. I couldn’t win at all. I was the opposite of the Dj Khalid song. I was working just as hard as all the other kids in the room and still couldn’t win. I lost every. Single. Match. That year. 0-18. In 5^th I could not win. So I kept at it. I don’t even know why, I guess it was just because I couldn’t stand to loose so I just kept at it until I finally knew I could win a match. Try to loose 18 straight matches and pursue through that.

The next season had rolled around and after wrestling all summer long I finally won a match (Against mike at an offseason tournament ;)) which kind of made it a little sweeter. The next season I went 6-12. Then the season after that 18-9 and a state qualifier. I finally had made it to state after going through a season of loosing every single match I had ever wrestled. You just have to have the drive to win at anything you do. EVEN IF IT MEANS YOU HAVE TO FIGHT 10x HARDER THAN ANYONE ELSE DOING IT.

“I don't care what's probable,

Through blood, sweat, and tears, I am unstoppable." –Anthony Robles (2011 National Champion Wrestler)

2. Sacrifice what you want at the moment for what you can have for a lifetime.

My freshman year of college football I had came into camp scared and nervous and not knowing what to expect. I had been dropped off after spending my whole life with the family that I loved and would always be comfortable with. I was now, in a way, by myself, and having to compete. As you can imagine my first couple of days of camp I didn’t preform as well as I would have liked. So I faced the decision that was looking at me right in the face. Quit, leave everything you worked for and you will escape the frustration and failure and you wont have to see it again. Now as everyone around me knows that was not going to be the option I chose. So I took the route that I only knew how. After practice every day after our lunch I would go down with my kicker in the lobby…listen to that…I went to the LOBBY OF OUR DORM ROOM and would snap for an hour, snap after snap until I was perfect. Andrew Haldeman (one of our kickers) would come down with me every day after lunch during our only time off and would come to catch and hold for me.

Not many people know what football camp was like but if your not on the field or eating your sleeping. Just so your body can function. Sleep becomes something you need and look forward to. But that’s what I wanted at the moment. I knew if I would just ignore the subpar play of mine and sleep, nothing would be fixed and I would be in the same situation I was in day after day. So instead of sleep, I snapped. Snapped every day in the same lobby in the same dorm. Every day. There was one night Haldeman, bless his heart, came out to the middle of campus at 10:30pm (knowing we would have to be up at 6:30 the next morning) came out and held and caught for me. Next thing you know I was snapping perfect balls, well close to perfect ;) and was back on target and back to my normal self. This process took about 2 weeks to get through but it was something that I knew I had to do in order to compete during the hardest of hard in the dog days of the hot Michigan summer.

“I believe that if you put in the work, the results will come” –Michael Jordan

3. SURROUND YOURSLEF WITH GOOD PEOPLE

One of my coaches in high school always said to me “If you hang around garbage, you start to smell like it” I’ve been always fortunate enough to have a strong family around me that always supported me whenever I needed anything but I’ve also been very lucky to have the friends that I do. All of the have helped me no matter what wither it was because my truck had ran out of gas (ha-ha most of my friends remember those days!) or if it was someone I needed to talk to because something was on my mind. All my friends have been there for me at one time or another and they are all good kids. I’m very lucky to have them because without them I would not be where I am at today. I know it sounds Cliché but it’s the truth if you’re surrounded by people that do bad things or are never supportive of you, your dreams will never come true. I’m not saying my friends were angels but they were pretty darn good people.

4. HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF!!!

To be a long snapper confidence is something that you have to have. That and your talent that you have worked on day after day. Snapping is like being on an island where you have to land the ball on a quarter size target or else your fired. You need confidence. It isn’t just something. Its one of the only things, it’s a tool you need to finish the job. It is also something that is not bought either, nor is it something that’s only relatable in sports. Confidence affects every aspect of your life. Whither it’s meeting people, meeting a girl, talking to your boss or just carrying yourself in public. I’ve always said confidence is like a GPS your lost without it.

5. DON’T LET YOUR FALIURES CONSUME YOUR LIFE, YET GUIDE IT TO PERFECTION

There is a saying at western “Fail fast and forget” So things don’t always go as planned, that’s life! Heck it would be more boring if you were always succeeding at something. When my brother would wrestle in high school he would have a ton of victories. He was all conference his junior and senior year but he would always say he learned more from his loses then his victory. He watched film of how come he lost and fixed it. He didn’t let the loss (failure) consume him and say, “Well I mean darn that’s it, I can’t beat this kid.” He figured it out and let that guide him to his success. If whenever you fail don’t let it consume you and affect every aspect of your life because then you will continue to fail. If you use it to guide you then shrug it off you will become successful.

6. BE ABLE TO BEND

Something that has helped me get through the tough times as well as the good times is being able to bend. Life throws so many curves and different scenarios that can happen. Being able to bend and be flexible to what is going on around you will guide you to success. You will find yourself one dimensional and not very happy with life if you can’t go with the flow and let things slide and take advantage of different opportunities.

7. Finally BREATHE! LOVE LIFE AND RELAX NOW AND THEN

Throughout this blog I talk a lot about how I have had to work hard and dedicate my time to working out or training or what have you but make no mistake everyone needs time to relax and unwind. Something that not a lot of people know is I love poetry and music. Its my avenue to express what ever is on my mind, I love doing it. I also like to relax with my friends or kickers. If you work yourself everyday and grind life out everyday you’re going to work yourself to an early grave. LOVE THE LIFE YOU LIVE!!! Smile! You’re alive and breathing and have just as much of an opportunity to be successful as anyone in the world. I wasn’t always the strongest, fastest or brightest kid in the world but I knew what I was good at and rolled with it. YOUR NOT GOING TO BE GOOD AT EVERYTHING but the things that you are good at are what make you, you. So smile, breathe and tell a joke every once in a while. Life’s too short to be uptight!

Again thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to read this, it means a lot that you do!! Feel free to shoot me some feedback!

Yours truly, Nicolas Monaghan J

We don't only snap balls...We snap Swag...holler!

What being a Long Snapper actually is goes beyond actual long snapping. I mean first off and I’m not ashamed to admit it I’ve used the line to pick up the dames “Yeah I play D1 football” But also there is a certain swag that snappers walk with. I mean look at Rubio long snapper Reid Ferguson (class of 2012 snapper on a full to LSU and good friend of mine) after some hours of trying to do my homework…psh biology, Chlorophyll more like boraphyll. See what I did there? I was doing some recent Facebook creeping and stumbled upon his lady friend. She is quite easy on the eyes. Your welcome Reid. Anyhow I thought wow how does he get such a classy dime to give him the time of day? Then Thought well isn’t it obvious? He’s a Rubio snapper. So I’ve taken it upon myself to explain why Rubio snappers get the prettiest ladies:

- we obviously are the best looking cats on the green. Lets be real.

-We were trained by the best so just having girls see us snap with our perfect form makes them weak at the knees and throw themselves at us

-What if there was an intruder in your home? Ahh! I need someone to save me!! Says Damsel in Distress. Boom. We’ve got it covered. We can hit the jabrone from up to 15 yards away within under .72 seconds with a ball of death. Sorry team.

-We are pretty much the most normal kids on the team. You don’t have to worry about us getting extensive interviews on how much pressure we had on us trying to snap the ball on the game winning field goal. Reporters just walk on by. So it’s pretty easy to talk to us after the game.

-Oh you don't believe me so far? well take a gander at this little photograph After a long day of competing at the TOP 12 event Elite camp in 2010 

Thats right we didn't even know these girls before this day! (I know what your thinking and yes somehow USC's kicker n punter hopped in there, but its cool, cuz they were bro's) I know you can barley see Cheadle with his camo but he's there haha 

-We only get a few plays a game (granted they are the most important plays ever in a million years…just saying.) so we wont always have to get hurt. I mean lets be serious quarterbacks get hurt all the time. Do you think ladies really want to have to deal with all that? The emotional tax that puts on them? Then have to take care of them? No. Didn’t think so. Boomtown.

- We know how to farm…that is it.

-We have this little thing called CONFIDENCE! Lets be real for 5 seconds broseiden, what ladies don’t like confidence? I know which kinds, not cool ones. That’s who. Anyhow we have to snap a ball upside down backwards and some of us don’t look till the very last millisecond. And we have to do that in-front of sometimes 110,000 people plus who ever is watching on tv. We also do it and don’t break a sweat. Swag.

-Contrary to popular belief. We do in-fact swag when we surf. That’s right Wayne got it from us. Your welcome Weezy F. Baby ;)

-Most of us tend to be a little pudgy with a tummy. You know what that means right? If ladies want to put a little on, there is no room for us to judge because we are rather large ourselves. Your welcome.

-Anyone can wear a quarterback or a wide receivers jersey, but lets be honest snappers are cooler. Plus we have cooler numbers like ahhhh 69!! Or you could wear a jersey with the number 69 or hey did I mention sometimes snappers like myself and CAL snapper John Sheperdson both rock the 69? How cool is that? Ill tell you. Cooler than cool hand luke himself.

-Since we have so much time in practice after thinking of snapping, actually getting up to snap, warm up, snap, get 0 praise after a flawless performance, then go back to what we are doing. we often like to talk to our inferior to coolness kickers. We tend to philosophy on how the world should be run. What things would be like if we were president. The girl that has a striking resemblance to Megan Fox in our bio class (Seriously its got to be her twin), what was going on on the latest episode of Keeping up With the Kardashians or Opra…that’s right I said it. We also know exactly what Paula Deen cooked on her last episode. So we are always fun to talk to because we are always current.

- We know every single restaurant in town. Their availability. And what’s on the Desert menu. You better believe your going to the right spot when your out with us

-For the most part we are smart

-For the most part we do what we are told

-ahhhh we’re cool? Shouldn’t that be enough?

-And we have to ability to go to the NFL better than anyone else. So if anything does the term cash cow come to mind? Uh-huh uh-huh.

Well I think I hear Kanye about to come on stage so I gatta go!

As always team. Stay classy and until next time thank a long snapper…they ahh…they don’t get it enough.

 Heres a couple of us Gentlemen and Scowlers (Hayes (Ohio state) Weneta (UCLA) Thompson (NC State) Noriega (SCC) ME!, Dooley (Indiana) Giampapa (Michigan State) and on the ground in his sunday's finest Elliot (Air Force Academy) I mean come on ladies what a couple of fox's!

In the words of Patrick P. Scott TOODLES!

I don't just play a snapper on TV, my life's the snapping reality. Snap that!

Hello blog world. I have decided that it is indeed time to start off my blog. My name is Nick Monaghan and I am a freshman red shirt long snapper at Western Michigan University. Pretty much the coolest position on the field. I get to travel, eat free food on the weekends (At team meals) and also I don’t get worked to hard at practice. (Seriously fathers teach your kids how to snap, if you cant Chris Rubio can its great.)

Anyhow it’s the coolest thing ever minus all the other players/coaches on your team hating you because you don’t do anything. Except stealing and melting the hearts of innocent females across the country with your snapper swag (which we will blog about later) Its sweet and lets be honest as Kevin Ballinger talks about we can cut a rug better than Johnny Travolta ever could. I’m almost positive he learned how to dance from a snapper. I digress and suppose I should tell you about myself. First off I am a twin. I know ladies; there is two of me. Eat your hearts out. My brother is probably the best looking kid I know. He is also my best friend. He is the goofiest kid I know. His humor is a lot of situational humor you know like if your standing next to him and he see’s something he’s going quietly joke to you about it and make you laugh your socks off. It’s great when we are out n about doing snapper like things such as trolling for babes, working your seemingly unviewable 6-pack or just sitting on the beach as people wish they could snap like you. I also forgot to mention he goes to The University of Missouri, which is a downer because I miss him and he’s goose n Im maverick, perfect wingmen. I could write a whole blog about this clown. In-fact I might. If I decide I will not be lazy. Huge decision.

Anyhow time to talk about the lady that birthed me. Lisa Monaghan. This lady is a saint and would do absolutely anything for me. No joke, the lady loves me more than I think herself sometimes, I absolutely love it. Anyhow Lisa Monaghan is my idol because she does not take any crap from anyone. I feel sometimes I care too much about what people think. But this lady is all real. Be nice to her and she will love you. Don’t be nice. Well…. you might as well be nice. She is an amazing lady and has put up with mike (My brother) and my dad (Kevin, he’s next) and I for 19+ years. Being the only lady in the house it’s hard for her to even think of putting on E! Channel or oxygen or any of those other lady channels. We always change it to ESPN or CMT or Nickelodeon you know, manly channels. She also puts up with a lot of our boyish shenanigans like wrestling all the time and bodily noises that aren’t pleasant. She also has filmed every single sporting event that mike and I have ever partaking part of. Seriously everything. Wrestling tournaments from 7am-8pm it’s amazing. Huge embracing to this lady and all the love she showers mike and I with. I also talk to her almost every night on the phone making sure she hasn’t killed my father yet (They are living just themselves now after 19 years of living with mike and I) and about whatever is on my mind. Like I said she is real so she sees the way they should be and helps me. Especially if I’m angry.

Next is Kevin Monaghan, my dad, my hero. Most of my friends or most people whom I refer him to rather know him as KPM. KPM is the man. He taught me everything about being a man. I mean look at the guy he has a stache of a god and chest hair of a lion. Anyhow he is a great man. He is very much involved in politics in my hometown of Darien, IL. He was the treasurer for 4 years and also ran for mayor, lost by 5% but its cool because Darien wasn’t ready for his coolness to rage on the town. In time dad, in time. Also this man has been my role model for life. He has been to every. Single. Practice. Of anything of mine. Seriously in 8th grade when my team took 3rd in state his name was on the trophy as a coach. He also was at every single football practice of mine in high school. I think it made him feel like he had the “Inside Scoop” but to be honest he owned his own insurance agency at home so I think it was just to get him out of the house. I love chilling with the guy and going golfing with him and my brother. Side note my brother, dad and I together is probably the funniest/sometimes obnoxious thing you will every see. Especially if we are at an event that all three of us don’t particularly care for. It’s a riot.


My brother also plays lacrosse for Missouri so one weekend he was playing in St.Louis for a tournament there and that was the same weekend we playing University of Illinois so my parents drove from Darien, IL to St.Louis for friday night then saturday morning drove from St.Louis to Champagne to see My game against U of I. They truly are the best parents ever! 




here are some photos:    The trio after high school graduation 

 My Brother, Mom and I after a high school football game

 My Mom and I during meet the team fan day

Anyhow that’s a little bit about my family and myself. It is time to go to lifts with my best friends Luke Martinez and Andrew Holdeman. Both kickers. Both almost attractive as me and both smarter than me by a million times.

Huge shout out to Claire Gerwig starting outside hitter for the Western Michigan Broncos for helping me get this started!! And helping me study for bio! 

Stay tuned for more!