NEW ORLEANS -- Five Kansas City Chiefs players will participate in their fifth Super Bowl on Sunday. The first four are easy to rattle off: Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, Harrison Butker.
The fifth might cause a stumble.
It's easy to forget the long snapper.
James Winchester joined the Chiefs in 2015 and has been the dynastic ride ever since.
"It's incredibly special," Winchester told NFL.com on Thursday. "Sometimes it's hard to wrap your brain around just the magnitude of what we've been able to do and what I personally have been able to be a part of with these guys. We've got future Hall of Fame coaches, players, and to one of the guys who has been a part of all five trips to the Super Bowl is pretty incredible. It really is remarkable."
Yes, we're talking about the long snapper.
It's not only Mahomes, Kelce and others who can make history as the Chiefs look to three-peat Sunday in Super Bowl LIX against the Philadelphia Eagles. Stepping on the field Sunday, Winchester will become the first and only long snapper to appear in five Super Bowls.
Winchester is already tied with the Dallas Cowboys' Dale Hellestrae for most Super Bowl wins by a long snapper, with three, per NFL Research (the New England Patriots' Lonie Paxton also has three rings but did not participate in Super Bowl XXXVIII while on injured reserve).
A fourth Super Bowl title would make Winchester the most Lombardied-up long snapper of all time.
"Pretty crazy that I could possibly be considered a guy that has the most (Lombardies) as a long snapper," he said. "Obviously, a team award, so I have all these guys to thank, but to be on the ride for long enough to have a chance to accomplish that is pretty special."
An undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma, Winchester signed with the Eagles in 2013. He was released in the first round of August cuts. K.C. scooped him up in 2015, and he's been one of the most consistent players in the league, not missing a game in 10 years.
Super Bowl week is typical for Winchester. While he goes for an NFL record few know or care about, the gaggle of press mostly passes him by. Mahomes is surrounded by a deluge of cameras and every manner of cell phone created. Kelce's peppered about the workings of his more-famous girlfriend. Jones is mobbed by questioners. A line forms around Butker's chair.
The fifth man in this party of five is comfortable in his anonymity.
"I tell people all the time, I've been able to go to the same grocery store in Kansas City for 10 years and never really been recognized there, and I'm completely fine with that," Winchester said, smirking. "That's great."
Perhaps he goes unnoticed by fans and media, but his contributions aren't lost on his teammates or coaches.
"James is great," Butker told NFL.com this week. "He's a great professional. He's done this for a long time. I've learned a lot from him about football and how you approach it. He's a great teammate. ... We have so many reps together, and I trust him. I love him being a teammate and being my long snapper, so very thankful for him and everything he does to help the whole field goal unit, help the Chiefs be successful, and win all these games."
Special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Dave Toub beams about his decade-long snapper.
"He's just a great guy, number one. Great teammate," Toub told NFL.com. "Loves to hunt the fish, which is right up my alley."
The Chiefs aren't keeping the 35-year-old around just for the fishing stories. It takes talent and grind to keep an NFL job for 10 years.
"He's very athletic," Toub told NFL.com. "He played wide receiver in college. He played wide receiver at Oklahoma. He came in running a 4.5 [40-yard dash]. He's tall, 245 pounds. He's athletic. He can jump out of the gym, too. He's got explosive power. Very athletic. Very smart. And really works at his craft. He's really hard on himself, wants to be perfect."
Striving for that perfection allows an unknown like Winchester to plug along, never giving coaches a reason to find a replacement.
"It's a game of misses, so perfection doesn't exist," he said. "You're shooting for perfection, but if you're off a couple of inches to the right or six inches to the right, six inches up and down, you guys, general viewers, probably won't notice, but (long snappers) are hacked off about it because it wasn't exactly perfect. But I think that's the name of the game. You chase perfection, knowing that you'll never achieve it, but how minimal can your misses be? That's kind of the name of long snapping for sure, the name of the game, and that's what we try to do."
Putting the ball exactly where it needs to be when it needs to be there, whether in the rain, snow or bitter K.C. cold, with the perfect rotation, makes a great long snapper.
"He can control the rotations of the ball, so when the holder catches it, he never gets the laces. He doesn't have to spin it," Toub said. "It's kind of cool when you think about it. When you snap a ball and he catches it, the holder doesn't have to spin it because he's so accurate. That's how much they work at it."
Winchester flying under the radar is a positive on a team with constant attention, constant press and constant scrutiny.
"It's probably a good thing because that means he's accurate with his snaps," Toub quipped about his snapper's obscurity.
Winchester could set the all-time Super Bowl wins record for a snapper, but we won't call him the most decorated at his position. Despite being on a modern dynasty, he's been to zero Pro Bowls, voted to no All-Pro teams, never been given a podium. Rarely seen, rarely heard.
None of that bothers him.
"You know, it really doesn't because I feel like as a position in the long snapper, you know, we know what we signed up for," he said. "And the role as a long snapper, we're a service role, right?
"You know, you serve as someone else. And so for our position, it's not flashy. Most people aren't just dying to line up to get my signature, right? But for me, I feel like, you know, you lean into your role. What my role [is] on this team is to serve these guys and help us win. And, you know, we've had some big kicks in the past. So, I've had the opportunity to either flip the field on a punt late in the game or, you know, Super Bowl-winning kick and be a part of those. And to me, that's valuable, and that's special to me."
Like your waitress, bartender or bellhop, the service industry too often goes overlooked -- even in the NFL.
