OT-ish: Pour one out for Camaron Cheeseman

Submitted by Koop on December 18th, 2023 at 1:46 PM

No, not Camaron Cheeseman!

The Washington Commanders have released long-snapper and former Wolverine standout Camaron Cheeseman after he botched two crucial long snaps in the Washington Football Team's 28-20 loss to the L.A. Rams. (Link to WaPo, free trial articles or $ subscription.)

Apparently, Cheeseman had changed the way he snapped the ball over the summer to try to provide a tight spiral, and the change in technique backfired for him.

The Washington Football Team traded up to draft Cheeseman in the sixth round in 2021. Cheeseman was a three-year letterman at Michigan, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. In addition to football, Cheeseman also lettered in baseball at Michigan. 

True to his distinguished education, Cheeseman was philosophical about the issue when asked:

“I’ve been worried all year,” Cheeseman said after Sunday’s loss. “I haven’t been performing the way I’ve been wanting to. Most places, I probably wouldn’t be around still. So I’m just taking every week as it is. I’m blessed to be snapping and to have snapped today. Every day’s a job interview, and you got to perform.”

On a personal note--Cheeseman was one of my son's favorite Michigan players, because Cheeseman had an uncanny ability to draw a personal foul for roughing the snapper on key plays to retain possession for the offense. Clearly a very smart and talented player. Also, an all-time great name. As residents of the MVA, we were thrilled when the WFT drafted Cheeseman. A sad loss; on the positive side, Cheeseman no longer has to play for the putrid Washington Commanders.

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Hoek

December 18th, 2023 at 1:49 PM ^

I shall have some cheese for Cheeseman! He truly has been blessed, not everyone gets drafted into the NFL, and he got to play at the highest level. 

Joined: 01/29/2010

MGoPoints: 14312

Koop

December 18th, 2023 at 1:49 PM ^

(Ha, a slip--wrote "MVA" instead of "DMV." I mean, "MVA" could stand for "Maryland-Virginia Area," but it's DMV because DC-MD-VA. I guess I have my registration renewal on my mind.)

Joined: 08/16/2022

MGoPoints: 2699

ChuckieWoodson

December 18th, 2023 at 1:50 PM ^

Bummer for Cheeseman.  Just goes to show the mental aspect of sports, especially at the highest levels is just as or in some instances, even more important than the physical.  

Hopefully he can get his new technique worked out and some other team picks him up for next year. 

Joined: 01/13/2012

MGoPoints: 26175

HighBeta

December 18th, 2023 at 2:15 PM ^

Speaking of the mental aspects of sports: 

I learned as a youngun that thinking was an almost guaranteed way to "fail the pitch, shot, volley, etc." Had a coach tell me that my brain was too noisy. This was, of course, why I laughed so hard when Crash Davis told Nuke, "Don't think, it can only hurt the ballclub". Very wise observation.

Suggestion to the Cheeseman? Practice it a million times, then consider doing what I did to keep the brain from messing up the practiced muscle memories: multiplication tables. It works ...

NB: a side benefit of getting really good at multiplying two numbers accurately is that you become very interesting at parties when people don't believe your ability to get an answer faster than someone using a calc app on their phone. 😉  

C'mon Camaron. You got this. Get another shot with another club and be your excellent Wolverine self.

Joined: 10/20/2019

MGoPoints: 15644

Bill22

December 18th, 2023 at 1:54 PM ^

I happened to catch a very bad snap yesterday by Cheeseman on Red Zone and was disappointed to hear it was our guy who snapped it.  Ronnie Bell also had an almost turnover on a punt return, but thankfully his knee was down.

I guess the more players you put in the NFL, the more likely these things are to happen.  Hopefully he can get his snapping straight and get another opportunity!

Joined: 09/07/2016

MGoPoints: 6734

Wendyk5

December 18th, 2023 at 6:12 PM ^

This reminds me (and not in a good way) of my son who pitched in college. He was more of a pitch to contact/paint the corners kind of pitcher but someone put it in his head that he needed to hit 90 mph to be considered by the big leagues (he had zero chance of getting drafted, just to be clear). So when Covid hit and everything shut down, he took the opportunity and completely changed his mechanics to try to increase his velocity by 8 or 9 mph. All hell broke loose, he lost a lot of control at the beginning, his coach was pissed since he did this all on his own to try to improve what was already pretty good pitching. His freshman year, he had 4 walks in 31 innings. His junior year, he had 12 walks in 28 innings.  Anyway, long story short, he probably could've had a better career had he stuck with his strengths and stopped trying to be someone that he wasn't. 

Joined: 11/20/2008

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