By Melville Van Buren

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Patrick Mannelly Award is built for the unsung hero: long snappers. Indiana football long snapper Sean Wracher, one of the nation’s best at the position, is part of the 25-person preseason watch list for the award.

The Patrick Mannelly Award is presented to the overall best long snapper at the Division I FBS level. The winner must be of senior standing, have started 75% of games in his senior year, snap on punts and placements, and demonstrate a strong mentality, notable athleticism, as well as speed, accuracy, and consistency in their snaps.

A 2022 semifinalist for the Mannelly Award, Wracher is a three-time Phil Steele All-Big Ten selections (2020, 2021, 2022). He has handled the long snapping duty in all 45 career games and helped three teammates earn all-conference honors, as both punter Haydon Whitehead (honorable mention) and place kicker Logan Justus (second team) earned All-Big Ten honors in 2019 and place kicker Charles Campbell (second team) garnered All-B1G in 2020.

A three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Wracher’s work helped Whitehead to a spot as a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award after he averaged 43.4 yards per punt to sit No. 4 on IU’s single-season list.

Named after Patrick Mannelly, widely known as the best long snapper in the modern NFL era, he was a four-year starter at long snapper and two-year starter at offensive line at Duke University before being drafted by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 1998 NFL Draft. Mannelly is the Bears career leader in games played at 245, the longest tenured Chicago Bear after playing 16 seasons, and a recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award.

From the 25-preson preseason watch list, ten semi-finalists will be announced on November 14. Those names will be narrowed to three finalists on November 28 and the winner will be selected at the ceremony in Lake Bluff, Illinois on December 10.

The award, which is presented by William Blair, benefits Bernie’s Book Bank, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing book ownership among at-risk children. Bernie’s Book Bank achieves this mission by providing 12 free books annually to empower under-served children to read their way to a better life. Since 2009, Bernie’s Book Bank has distributed more than 19 million books to children ages birth through sixth grade; this year alone they will provide 2.2 million books to thousands of local under-served children. For more information about Bernie’s Book Bank, visit berniesbookbank.org.

COURTESY INDIANA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS