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Andrew Fowler could be making big bucks on Wall Street already and working his way up the corporate ladder. Instead, he's doing one of the loneliest jobs in sports.
No pay.
Not even guaranteed a scholarship.
Taking a circuitous path to the position filled with injuries and transfers, the rare sixth-year senior has found his niche at long snapper. He earned a starting spot and later a football scholarship for No. 7 Stanford for the first time this season, putting a career in finance on hold to do a job few ever notice.
''I know it sounds cheesy, but I was thinking down the road, I wanted to be able to tell my kids I was a starter,'' Fowler said. ''It really means a lot to me.''
All it took was five years of sweat and setbacks to work out.
Fowler, a native of La Jolla, Calif., turned down recruiting offers from nearby San Diego - then coached by Jim Harbaugh - for Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. The tiny liberal arts school allowed him to play football and baseball and attend a prestigious academics university.
Fowler, now 23, tore the MCL and patella tendon in his right knee the third game of the season his freshman year, an injury that derailed his career. So when Stanford hired Harbaugh in 2006, Fowler's mother pushed him to make a call.
He spoke with recruiting coordinator Lance Anderson to discuss the possibility of transferring to a university he had always dreamed about. Harbaugh agreed to let Fowler walk-on at Stanford, and he had to sit out another year because of transfer rules.
Finding a place for Fowler proved to be another challenge.
He played linebacker, fullback, even defensive end - all with little success - and received a concussion on a special teams play against San Jose State in 2009 that sidelined him for the season and complicated his career even further.
''I joked with the guys that I was the jack of all trades,'' Fowler said, ''master of none.''
The neurologist who treated his concussion recommended Fowler only return to a position where contact would be limited. But he was beat out at long snapper in 2008 by Zach Nolan and had to wait three long years for a chance just to compete for the spot again.
In the meantime, Fowler went to camps and worked out with renowned long-snapping specialist Chris Rubio, learning the ins and outs of the position. Turns out, it's trickier than most imagine.
''Everybody thinks they could play long snapper,'' Rubio said. ''Not everybody can bend their knees, crouch down, throw a football upside down, spin it different ways, get up, block a 300-pound monster and run down field and hit somebody. Then sit on the sideline for 30 or 45 minutes cold, come in for one play and do it again. And it has to be perfect, just perfect, every time.''
Most players struggle with the mental part of long snapping.
Rubio believes it takes a special type of person to play long snapper, even joking that the position is sort of a ''cult following'' or a ''subculture'' within the game because it's so separate from the rest of the team. And usually the smart ones don't last because they overthink - something Fowler had to overcome early.
''It's kind of like a golfer going to the driving range,'' Fowler said. ''Anybody could tee it up, really, if you have the technique down and hit the ball nicely. When you surround yourself with a crowd of 50,000 people, it becomes different. You have to train your mind. The margin of error is pretty slim. The only time you get noticed long snapping is when you mess up.''
Fowler's decision to return for his final year of eligibility didn't go unnoticed.
A few days after preseason fall practice ended, Stanford coach David Shaw decided to reward a few walk-ons with a scholarship - usually reserved for guys who play more glamorous positions.
In front of an entire team meeting, Shaw called Fowler's name.
''We saw we had some scholarships left over. We wanted to see who is really going to contribute for us, and here's a guy who plays a vital role,'' Shaw said. ''Here's a guy who's a leader in the weight room, who's a leader in workouts, who's a leader on the field. He's one of the most dependable guys you'll ever find. It was really an easy decision.''
The good news didn't stop there.
Fowler, who had interned in New York last year, also signed with the sales and trade department of Bank of America/Merrill Lynch on Wall Street that day. He'll start next year, unless there's an opportunity in the NFL, and will leave with two degrees from Stanford - a bachelor's in art history and a master's in management science and technology, with an emphasis on economics and finance.
So far, Fowler has been perfect snapping.
Fowler acknowledges his first official snap as a starter - an extra point attempt against San Jose State in the season opener - was the most difficult but also the most rewarding.
Nothing routine about it.
''If you can imagine being a backup for all those years, to actually be in the game was almost surreal,'' he said. ''But it was like going into autopilot. Now it's all about repetition and muscle memory. I've had plenty of practice.''
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Follow Antonio Gonzalez at: www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP
