KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Nov. 23, 2005) -- Kendall Gammon, whose excellent long-snapping had made him known within the NFL but virtually anonymous to most fans, is out for the rest of the season after he was placed on injured reserve by Kansas City.
The Chiefs signed Ed Perry, the former long snapper at Miami.
Gammon, 37, fractured his left fibula Nov. 20 at Houston. He had made 218 consecutive starts, the longest active streak in the league among nonkickers.
"It happened at the line of scrimmage," Gammon said. "I was blocking, and somebody's knee hit me in the right place, or the wrong place, however you want to say it.
"I've never not played a game. I've been fortunate to play 13 years without being hurt. But I can barely walk right now, let alone run."
Losing Gammon could be a blow to the Chiefs (6-4). Longtime NFL kicker Morten Andersen once called him the greatest snapper in NFL history.
"We're going to miss Kendall Gammon," Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. "Nobody snaps the ball better than Kendall Gammon."
Gammon said he will not need surgery, just time to let the injury heal. He hopes to be back next year.
"That's my plan," he said. "You just hope it's somebody else's plans. The injury is not significant in terms of messing me up. But if I took another blow, I could screw my knee up for life."
Perry has seen action in 103 games, including 10 starts, in eight seasons with Miami, and appeared in all 16 games in 2004 as Miami's long snapper. He entered the league as the last of four sixth-round draft picks Miami had in 1997.
"After three years at tight end he became their long snapper, and he did a nice job for us today on the practice field," Vermeil said.
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