In Their Shoes is a series about jobs Minnesotans do and why they do them.
Andrew DePaola never intended to be an NFL long snapper.
A quarterback in high school, he switched to wide receiver at Rutgers and then stepped in as a snapper when the starter was injured.
“You hear the expression that sometimes you don’t choose your job; your job chooses you. I feel like it rings true a little to me,” says DePaola, who joined the Vikings as a long snapper in 2020. “It just fell into my lap and chose me.”
And DePaola is grateful for that, even if it means he’s almost invisible on the field and faces plenty of jokes about the position not being as physical as the others.
He has come a long way from his days in 2013, bartending at his parents’ restaurant, DePaola’s Pub in Arbutus, Md., where he made $40 to $60 a night in tips. His annual income now is “very nice and comfortable,” surpassing $1.2 million a year.
We caught up with him at Vikings training camp in late July to discuss what it’s like holding one of the most unusual jobs in professional football.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.