His time in the short-lived Alliance of American Football League (AAF) opened the door for a return to the National Football League. For Cole Mazza, the former University of Alabama long snapper is now a starter for the Los Angeles Chargers – per an article from the L.A. Times.
News broke on Tuesday with the Chargers releasing veteran snapper, Mike Windt, who played 10 years for the franchise. Mazza, a native of Bakersville, Calif., steps in as someone that has championship experience (college level) and is viewed as a true perfectionist in his craft.
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Through four seasons at Alabama (2013-16), he never had a bad snap.
In fact, Mazza was perfect on all 583 snaps for field goals, punts and extra points. He was a valuable member of three Southeastern Conference title teams (2014-16) and a College Football Playoff title squad (2015).
His expertise helped punters such as Cody Mandell (2013) and JK Scott (2014-16) to average 40+ yards per punt for their careers. Behind Mazza, former kickers Cade Foster (2013) and Adam Griffith (2015) made all 122 of their extra points combined.
He took much pressure off Griffith on field goals in 2015 and 2016, as the native of Poland connected on 70 percent or better of his attempts.
Mazza will definitely be a asset for Michael Badgley (kicker) and Ty Long (punter) of the Chargers.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
