Pepper’s career is anything but a snap
Taybor Pepper has been employed by five NFL teams, had tryouts with eight others and once had a team arrange for him to sign a contract before telling him, in effect, to get lost.
In August 2016, the 49ers’ new and welltraveled long snapper was an excited rookie 20 minutes away from boarding his flight at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. He was set to sign with the team that day, make his professional debut in a preseason game two days later and …
“I’m about to board and the team calls me and says, ‘ We had an injury at Dtackle. We’re going to bring in somebody else in your spot,’ ” Pepper said. “I just sat on the phone and then said, ‘ So what does that mean? And the guy says, ‘ Go home.’ ”
Four months later, on Christmas Day, Pepper, 26, received a gift from his mom, Donna, that’s a reminder of one of his first of many rejections: She framed his boarding pass from that flight and, underneath, included the
definition of “perseverance.”
“It’s a nice reminder,” Pepper said.
It’s tempting to write that Pepper’s perseverance has finally paid off.
The 49ers signed him to replace longtime long snapper Kyle Nelson on Sept. 30 and Pepper debuted in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles by not calling attention to himself, the goal of any long snapper.
However, given his position’s lack of job security, along with his zigzagging career arc, Pepper knows better than to assume his rugged road has been replaced by easy street.
“Every time you think everything has happened to you — nothing new can surprise you — there’s something new that happens,” Pepper said. “It’s insane.”
His longterm future still might be murky, but this is clear: The new long snapper with an entertaining Twitter account (@ TayborSnap ping) likes to laugh.
Pepper’s humor has remained intact despite long stretches of unemployment. He spent 2016 and 2018 out of the NFL, living back home in Saline, Mich., and waiting for openings that didn’t materialize.
“I was just waiting by the phone,” Pepper said, “and searching ‘ long snapper’ on Twitter every Sunday to see if anybody messed up.”
In 2017, Pepper, who shares the record for the most games played ( 54) in Michigan State history, got his break when the Packers signed him after their long snapper was injured. Pepper played in four games — before he broke his foot in practice.
In 2019, he was the Dolphins’ long snapper for all 16 games — before Miami drafted a long snapper in the sixth round in April.
“I made the rookie mistake of thinking I was the franchise long snapper,” Pepper said, “and I bought a house in Fort Lauderdale.”
At least regular NFL employment last year allowed him to make such a purchase.
Since leaving college, Pepper has earned money by giving longsnapping lessons and by playing the starring role in a car commercial in which he snapped a football into the open window of a Ford Escape. ( Said Pepper to the ChampaignUrbana ( Ill.) NewsGazette in 2016: “It was harder snapping in jeans than I expected.”)
In 2017, when the Packers called him, Pepper was working the cash register at his mom’s consignment store.
That call led to Pepper’s NFL debut. It was an accomplishment he couldn’t have imagined at Saline High, when playing in college appeared impossible.
Pepper’s dad, Cam, was a twoyear starter at right guard at Illinois who spent training camp with the Eagles in 1991. Cam Pepper unsuccessfully tried long snapping to stick in the NFL and passed along the basics to his son.
“I grew up my whole life like, ‘ Oh, my dad played college football — I’m going to play college football,’ ” Pepper said. “And then in 10th grade, I had to take a hard look at myself. I was on JV and I was thirdstring wide receiver and fourthstring defensive end.
“And I was like, ‘ How the hell am I supposed to play in college, again?’ I understood, ‘ OK, I have to really dedicate myself to long snapping.’ And it kind of took off there.”
Pepper wondered if his career had stalled yet again in late April after the Dolphins waived him when the coronavirus pandemic didn’t allow teams to work out free agents.
However, his phone finally began to ring this summer. Since midAugust, Pepper has had tryouts with, in order, the Colts, Cardinals, 49ers and Colts before his second visit to the 49ers ended with a contract.
Pepper, who took 12 coronavirus tests during his odyssey, was anxious about traveling so much during a global health crisis. But his overriding emotion was gratitude that his name remained in NFL Rolodexes. He joked about hopscotching the country, as if he were a winedanddined free agent.
“I must have looked like a pretty hot commodity flying to all these different places,” Pepper said.
Pepper, who also has spent time with the Ravens and Giants, feels at home in Santa Clara. He raved about the 49ers’ culture, the guidance he has received from kicker Robbie Gould and the strong support he also has gotten from punter Mitch Wishnowsky and specialteams coach Richard Hightower.
Of course, the team that has embraced him could be one bounced snap away from firing him.
Pepper knows that better than most. In fact, he will face the last team to release him when the 49ers host the Dolphins on Sunday.
Asked about getting back at his exemployer, Pepper, who has kept his humor through upheaval and unemployment, laughed yet again.
“The way I will carry out my master plan for how to exact revenge on the Dolphins is by having a good game for the 49ers,” Pepper said. “That’s what the 49ers brought me here to do.”