Mr. Goode is a long snapper.
His job is to snap the ball back to the punter standing 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
On field goals and extra point attempts the snap goes 7 yards to a holder who places the ball so the kicker can kick it through the goalposts.
Goode didn't miss a game for 137 games. He did his job very well. It amazed me to learn he did the job with so much precision the laces on the football would land in the holder's hands so precisely no adjustment was necessary before putting the ball down.
In Sunday's game, Goode tore the AC ligament in his knee during the first quarter, but finished the game.
He's out for the year now. A Packer since 2008, he was one of the longest tenured players on the team.
His is the kind of job only noticed when things go wrong. 99% of the time, we didn't notice. We might see him get in on tackling a punt returner, but that was about it.
Brett is out for good, through the end of the season at least. The Packers signed a replacement named Rick Lovato. Here's hoping we pay as little attention to him as we did Brett Goode.
In the meantime, let's give a hearty cheer for the Brett Goode's on the field and in our lives who do their job diligently and without acclaim and do it so well we don't even notice they are there.
Good bye Brett, we hardly knew ye and never appreciated you as much as you deserved.
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