Florida’s third-year starting long snapper has been recognized as one of the nation’s premier specialists.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gators long snapper Rocco Underwood has been selected to the 2024 Patrick Mannelly Award Watch List. The Mannelly award is given to the player judged to the best FBS long snapper each season.
2024 will be the 6th year of the award. Created in 2019, The Patrick Mannelly Award benefits Bernie’s Book Bank, a non-profit organization located in Lake Bluff, Illinois. The award is named for Patrick Mannelly, a 16-year NFL long snapper for the Chicago Bears.
The Lake Mary, Fla. Native has been the starting long snapper for the Gators each of the previous two seasons, and in 2023 recorded 78 total snaps with only one missed connection with punter/holder Jeremy Crawshaw on the season.
Florida has had one previous athlete be named to a Mannelly Award watch list, with Marco Ortiz being selected prior to the 2022 campaign. Ortiz suffered an injury after the first game of the season, opening the door for the redshirt freshman Underwood.
Ten semi-finalists will be announced on November 11, 2024, and those names will be narrowed to three finalists announced on November 25, 2024. The winner selected at the live award ceremony in Lake Bluff on December 14, 2024. The complete list of nominees can be seen below.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gators long snapper Rocco Underwood has been selected to the 2024 Patrick Mannelly Award Watch List. The Mannelly award is given to the player judged to the best FBS long snapper each season.
2024 will be the 6th year of the award. Created in 2019, The Patrick Mannelly Award benefits Bernie’s Book Bank, a non-profit organization located in Lake Bluff, Illinois. The award is named for Patrick Mannelly, a 16-year NFL long snapper for the Chicago Bears.
The Lake Mary, Fla. Native has been the starting long snapper for the Gators each of the previous two seasons, and in 2023 recorded 78 total snaps with only one missed connection with punter/holder Jeremy Crawshaw on the season.
Florida has had one previous athlete be named to a Mannelly Award watch list, with Marco Ortiz being selected prior to the 2022 campaign. Ortiz suffered an injury after the first game of the season, opening the door for the redshirt freshman Underwood.
Ten semi-finalists will be announced on November 11, 2024, and those names will be narrowed to three finalists announced on November 25, 2024. The winner selected at the live award ceremony in Lake Bluff on December 14, 2024. The complete list of nominees can be seen below.
| Name | School |
| Austin Brinkman | West Virginia |
| Austin Riggs | Rutgers |
| Beau Gardner | Georgia |
| Ben Anderson | Oklahoma |
| Brent Matiscik | TCU |
| Byron Floyd | Buffalo |
| Cayson Pfeiffer | Wisconsin |
| Christian Johnstone | Appalachian State |
| Colby Cox | Memphis |
| Dylan Black | Oregon State |
| Eli Stein | Arkansas |
| Ethan Hudak | Tulane |
| Hank Pepper | USC |
| Hunter Rogers | South Carolina |
| Jacob Garcia | Utah State |
| JT Greep | Utah |
| Julian Ashby | Vanderbilt |
| Kneeland Hibbett | Alabama |
| Luke Elkin | Iowa |
| Luke Hosford | Kansas |
| Nicholas Marino | Florida Atlantic |
| Philip Florenzo | Clemson |
| Rocco Underwood | Florida |
| Ryan Wintermeyer | San Diego State |
| Slade Roy | LSU |
| Travis Drosos | UCLA |
| Tucker Dunn | Ball State |
| Tyler Duzansky | Penn State |
| Will Halkyard | Northwestern |
| William Wagner | Michigan |
