The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks are set to play in Super Bowl 60 on Feb. 8 (5:30 p.m. CT, NBC) and one former Vanderbilt football player will be making his Super Bowl debut.
Patriots long snapper Julian Ashby, who played for the Commodores in 2024, is expected to play for New England in the Super Bowl.
The Patriots advanced to the Super Bowl after beating the Denver Broncos 10-7 in the AFC Championship on Jan. 25. The Seahawks made it after beating the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in the NFC Championship also on Jan. 25.
Ashby played in all 17 games for the Patriots, including all three wins in the playoffs. He had one tackle in the win over the Broncos, giving him three tackles this season. The long snapper is responsible for snapping the football on punts and kicks, an under-appreciated role, but an important one.
Ashby was Vanderbilt’s long snapper in 2024, recording two tackles over 13 games. He was then drafted in the seventh round (No. 251 overall) by New England and was an immediate starter for the Patriots.
Prior to playing at Vanderbilt, Ashby was the long snapper for Furman for four years (2020-2023). He appeared in 31 games for the Paladins before transferring to Vanderbilt ahead of the 2024 season.
Ashby is from Atlanta, Georgia, and attended Parkview High School.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex atjdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
