A washed long snapper's guide to a Seattle game day
A washed long snapper's guide to a Seattle game day
Former Duck Jeff Palmer on everything from parking at Northgate to the Swinging Gate.
Jeff Palmer is comfortable living behind enemy lines.
Maybe it’s the fact that the former Oregon long snapper went 5-0 during his career against the Huskies, but more than a decade now removed from his playing career he finds morning strolls through Montlake to be a nice way to start the day.
Heck, he’s even coming around to the athletic facilities.
“I went to Oregon/UW basketball last year and you can objectively say that’s a cool basketball stadium,” he said. “And for the football games — the big football games — it’s definitely fun to go to. Outside of Eugene, it’s probably the best place to tailgate in the Pac-12.”
Palmer’s been in Seattle since 2019. His wife grew up there and he now works as the VP of Sales at Vori Health. It’s not usually long into conversation with new acquaintances that his Oregon past comes up.
“I long snapped,” he said. “So I usually tell people I was the smallest white guy out there.”
I’ve known Palmer since interviewing him for a “Dyer was Down” retrospective The Athletic published back in 2019, and it’s an interview that’s gone on to pay dividends over the years. Palmer was the one who once texted me a picture of Nate Costa’s face superimposed over that of our Lord and Savior, which led to this story, and he also recommended a few spots in Seattle this summer when he found out I was heading up for the Blink-182 show.
We ended up at the Queen Anne Beer Hall, among other places, and had a great time. So, considering Palmer’s proximity to UW, I wondered if he could offer up a few suggestions for any I-5 Corridor subscribers heading up north tomorrow for the game.
He had a bunch.
So without further adieu, here are a few suggestions from the “I’m washed” Google Doc Palmer shared with me earlier this week.