Former Pitt long snapper Cal Adomitis finds his NFL niche in Cincinnati
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Cincinnati Bengals long snapper Cal Adomitis walked out of the tunnel and witnessed the sheer size of AT&T Stadium. He saw the legendary star in the center, and he was surrounded by 80,000 screaming fans, cheering on their Dallas Cowboys.
This was the first NFL start for the Central Catholic and Pitt alum. He was going against a storied franchise with five Super Bowl victories and the most playoff appearances (35) in NFL history. Nevertheless, the noise and the atmosphere didn’t deter him when the Week 2 game started last fall.
“That’s a very iconic place to play, and that was my first ever start,” Adomitis said. “The Cowboys are pretty aggressive on special teams for rushing the punter pretty hard, and so I knew going in that it would be a bit of a dogfight. It was a cool moment and definitely boosted my confidence and proved to myself that I was capable of doing what I needed to do to play at this level.”
Long snapper Clark Harris was injured in Week 1 during the Bengals’ home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That led to Adomitis jumping from the practice squad and into NFL action. He ended up playing the rest of the year.
Adomitis started all four years at long snapper for Pitt. In his senior year, he won the Patrick Mannelly Award, given to the best senior long snapper.
At Central Catholic, he played tight end and long snapper under coach Terry Totten. He didn’t believe that long snapper was going to be his career route. He thought he was going to be a tight end, similar to his brother, Graham, who played at Princeton and in preseason for the Indianapolis Colts.
Adomitis started long snapping in his junior year of high school, was a preferred walk-on at Pitt and worked his way up to being the Panthers’ starting long snapper.
He said he enjoyed many memorable moments in a Pitt uniform, including playing in, as he would call it, the “musty” Carrier Dome in a chippy game against Syracuse and upsetting No. 2 Miami at Acrisure Stadium — then Heinz Field — spoiling the Hurricanes’ playoff chances.
There also was Alex Kessman’s 55-yard field goal, which, at the time, was the longest field goal in Heinz Field/Acrisure Stadium history.
But in 2022, he got to experience what it was like to walk out of the tunnel in the Steel City as a visitor when the Bengals visited the Steelers on Nov. 20.
“Leading up to the game, obviously, there was kind of a whirlwind of emotions and a mix of feelings and curiosity on what it’s going to feel like to be on the opposite sideline in Heinz Field,” Adomitis said. “But really, once I got there, back to Heinz, it just felt like home, and it was just a lot of fun and cool having my family and a number of my friends out there watching. It didn’t take long to feel right back at home.”
Adomitis and the Bengals left with a 37-30 victory.
The Bengals had a special season, and so did Adomitis, and the Bengals rewarded him by re-signing him.
“After the season, I was invited to re-sign, and it was good,” Adomitis said. “Obviously, I had great coaching and great guys around me to help me through my rookie year because it’s definitely kind of a whirlwind, but it was awesome.
“It was just cool once I got the first couple reps under my belt. I started to settle in and realize that it’s just football and nothing different than what I had been doing throughout college.”
Cincinnati fell short of the Super Bowl last season, losing to eventual champion Kansas City in the AFC title game. So this season, Adomitis and the team want to get to the top. During the offseason, Adomitis was full speed ahead with the rest of the special teams.
“We drafted a punter (Brad Robbins), and they wanted me to get some work in with him before everyone else reported,” Adomitis said. “I got down there a couple of days early and basically just been nose to the grindstone since then.”
Adomitis added that he likes what he sees from the special teams.
“I thought across the board our specialists performed pretty well throughout the preseason games,” he said. “There are still some things to tighten up before the real deal starts, but I feel good about it and I’m excited for the regular season.”
Bengals coach Zac Taylor has instituted the tradition of his players wearing their college colors on Saturdays, and Adomitis and teammate Tyler Boyd, a former wide receiver for Pitt, wear the blue and gold.
“Boyd and I are always sporting our Pitt gear, and there’s definitely a lot of pride that he and I both take playing for the Panthers and being Pitt men,” Adomitis said. “We’re always in our blue and gold on Saturdays.”
Adomitis credited one of his coaches at Central Catholic, Kevin Sheridan, for pushing him to make the most of his skills.
“He was definitely a workhorse,” Adomitis said. “He taught us a lot of discipline and just how to play the game and approach the game the right way. I carry with me a lot of the lessons that I’ve learned from him throughout the rest of my career, and I definitely attribute my ability to continue playing the game to the coaching that he taught me at a young age.”
Most importantly, Adomitis draws inspiration from his family.
“For every game I write my grandma’s initials on my wrist as a reminder of who I’m playing for and her and the rest of my family,” Adomitis said. “I’d say that they’re my ‘why’ and what keeps me motivated. It’s hugely important they were the ones who, even when I wasn’t super highly recruited out of high school, who always believed in me and encouraged me to chase my dream.”
With the 2023 NFL season ready to begin, Adomitis has lofty goals. He wants the Bengals to win the Super Bowl and wants to earn a Pro Bowl bid. He said he has been working on being the most athletic long snapper he can be.
“In terms of the offseason, I definitely just wanted to put on some healthy weight, increase my muscle mass and decrease a little bit of fat on my frame and get stronger and faster,” he said. “I want to be more explosive and more flexible as well just so I know athletically that I have the ability to move in a more fluid and athletic way in general.”