Wisconsin's Peter Bowden is one of the top long snappers in the country

His studies of nonprofit leadership also offer a different perspective

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Peter Bowden is used to explaining his role to casual football fans. The long snapper for the University of Wisconsin football team is often asked to explain not just why the position of long snapper exists, but how he managed to earn an athletic scholarship for it.

“When we punt, I have to snap the ball and I have to block a man in protection,” says the redshirt senior. “The reason I have to snap it instead of somebody else is that I have to throw it 15 yards, accurately, as opposed to a center, who only needs to snap it five yards to the quarterback.”

What Bowden, a San Diego native, leaves out is that sometimes he needs to deliver the ball — a perfect spiral thrown while looking upside down between his legs — when the Badgers are deep in their own territory. An imprecise snap would lead to points for the other team and humiliation for himself and his teammates. Long snappers show up on ESPN only when something goes horribly wrong.

“I’m responsible for hitting my spot and making sure the laces are straight out, so that the kicker can kick the best ball he can,” Bowden says, describing a challenging task in a very simple way.

Bowden did that well enough in 2021 and 2022 to be named a pre-season All-American this summer. He’s on the watchlist for the Mannelly Award, given each year to the best long snapper in the country. It’s entirely possible that he will be on the roster of a pro team next season.

His job was made a little more difficult this year with the arrival of coach Luke Fickell, who oversees the special teams and introduced a new punting strategy. Freshman punter Atticus Bertrams, an Australian, employs the “rugby style,” which often has him rolling out before kicking the ball, giving teammates more time to run downfield and cover the return.

“I have to put the ball sometimes more outside, sometimes more up,” Bowden says. “There are more places I have to aim now. I have to be more aware, but the blocking is simpler.”

I first met Bowden a few weeks ago, when he and another student showed up at the October Isthmus board of directors’ meeting. With an undergraduate degree in economics, math emphasis, in hand, Bowden is using a fifth year to complete a certificate in community and nonprofit leadership.

“Classes I’m taking are about management, facilitation, like how to be a member of a community nonprofit organization board,” he says.

He and his classmates fan out across the community to work with several Madison organizations. “We meet together on Wednesdays and discuss the different groups that everyone’s in,” he says. “It’s great to learn about the different nonprofits in Madison because I’ve been here for five years and all I’ve really had is school and football. And now that I’m in this certificate program, I get to take a bigger view of Madison and what’s really going on.”