Tigers Football Q&A: Treysen Neal

NOTE: The Treysen Neal Q&A first appeared in the Sept. 26 Memphis Football GameDay program when the Tigers hosted Navy.

Q: When did you start playing football?
A: I started playing football in third grade. I didn't start long snapping until the end of my eighth-grade year. Before that and in high school, I played different positions. I played offensive line, receiver, running back. I really got big into long snapping going into my freshman year.

Q:  Why long snapping?
A: I wanted to play college football, but I knew that I didn't have the size for it. I knew that was one way that I could get in, by finding a craft and mastering it.

Q:  How did the thought of long snapping come about?
A:  There's a place in St. Louis called Elite Football Academy, and I would go there for different position training. My middle school coach asked me to long snap. I asked one of the guys there (at Elite Academy) if he could show me how to do it. I did it, and he was like, 'You're pretty good at this. Maybe we should look into doing this more.' My dad did research on it with different techniques. Between the guys at Elite and my dad, they taught me.

Q:  Is there more than one way to long snap?
A: Every guy is different. It just depends where you put your hands, how your stance is, the width of your feet.

Q:  What makes a successful long snapper?
A:  You have to be balanced in your grip. You want to have balanced weight on the ball, on all sides of it. You have to be balanced on your feet so you can get (the ball) all the way through your legs. Flexibility is a big key.

Q:  Do you do Pilates or yoga?
A:  I have, but a lot of it is just band stretching. I just put the band on my leg and pull my hamstrings.

Q:  When did long snapping really take off for you?
A:  Long snapping really took off after I got injured my freshman year following wrestling season. I tore my pectoral and had to get that reconstructed. I had to learn from scratch again. I already had the knowledge of how to do it, so that, mixed with being able to start over, helped me excel.

Q:  Do you play any games with long snapping?
A:  I really like accuracy stuff, like trick shots and hitting small targets. That's more fun than how far I can snap it.

Q:  How far can you snap the ball?
A:  I believe 30 yards.

Q:  Do you have any embarrassing moments that stick out?
A:  Last year during a game, there was a miscommunication on the sidelines. We were doing a quick field goal, but I was told we were going for it. I didn't go on the field so I was the only guy on field goal unit who didn't get out there on time. I was way late getting out there.

Q:  How did your recruitment go?
A:  I took some visits to other colleges, mainly Big 10 colleges. I had offers from Western Illinois and Auburn. They were both preferred walk-on (offers). Late my senior year, around a week before I had to report here, Memphis came in and offered me a scholarship.

Q:  Do you call Memphis home?
A:  It's starting to get there. I'm only going into my second year, but I would say 'Yes, definitely.'

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