By Molly Campbell
Stampeders.com

Some fans may not have even noticed.

Despite the fact he’s one of the best in the business at his craft, it’s possible some fans didn’t even realize the Stamps’ starting long snapper, Randy Chevrier, didn’t make the trip to Edmonton last Thursday. 

That’s a good thing for his backup, Tim St. Pierre, because the only time a long snapper tends to get noticed is when he messes up.

A mainstay on Calgary’s special teams and a backup fullback, St. Pierre saw his first game action at long snapper in almost exactly two years last week when he filled in for Chevrier, who is out with a leg injury.

“I think I snapped well,” says the veteran of seven CFL seasons. “I think our whole op was good. Rene (Paredes) kicked well, Rob (Maver) kicked well, for the most part we covered well on punt. We had to do that because the week before we didn’t cover too well so it was more important that we covered well and operated well as a group.”

Back in 2012, St. Pierre made four starts at long snapper for the Stamps before suffering a season-ending knee injury. 

Prior to that, his only long snapping experience in the CFL was with the Eskimos in 2010. His snapping abilities helped earn him the Eskimo nomination for most outstanding special teams player at the end of that season.

St. Pierre knew early on that having a specialized skill would increase his chances of making a college or pro team in the future. So when he was in high school, he solicited the help of an expert. 

“I got into it in Grade 12 in high school,” explains the Hamilton native. “Actually the snapper for the Tiger-Cats, Matt Robichaud at the time, he lived in Burlington so he was close. So me and my buddy, who was the snapper at the time in high school, we worked with him a bit.

“I saw it as an opportunity down the road that might be able to get me on the field in college and ideally in the pros, at that time, was the goal. So I picked it up then and now it’s been I guess 11, 12 years or so. Time goes quick but it’s a thing you’ve just got to keep getting better every year.” 

True to his word, St. Pierre is always working hard to get better. For as long as he’s been in the CFL, whether he’s the starting long snapper or not, after practice you will find him out on the field with the kickers and his fellow long snappers making sure he gets in his reps. He continues that commitment in the off-season as well.

“I counted how many snaps I did in a year and it’s roughly around 3,500 if you count practice, games, warm-ups, you count everything,” he says. “So I charted that for a year and that’s kind of what I try to hit in the off-season. So that means you’re ready for the year; it’s non-stop.” 

St. Pierre was the long snapper for all four years in college and credits Saint Mary’s for helping him to be able to handle snapping duties at the professional level, both physically and mentally.

“I snapped the whole time in college so that was a good experience,” says St. Pierre, who was part of two Atlantic conference championship squads and made one trip to the Vanier Cup. “We had a lot of cold weather games out there and a lot of different big games. We were on the national stage a lot because it’s a really good program so that’s good experience as a long snapper, being in high pressure situations and learning to block it out. That’s one of the main things is having a calm demeanour and you need to get that through experience.” 

With Chevrier still on the injured list, St. Pierre will get another opportunity to handle long snapping duties on Friday night.

And some fans may not even notice.