The Jacksonville Jaguars today were awarded rookie long snapper Luke Ingram off waivers from Pittsburgh. The Jaguars' roster currently stands at 90 players under contract.
Ingram, 6-5, 258, was originally signed by Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and was waived on August 1. He was a four-year letterman at Hawaii where he played in 52 games and snapped every PAT, field goal and punt attempt during his career. He never had a bad snap that led to a blocked kick or mishandled placement. He was named the team's special teams player of the year as a senior and became the 19thplayer in school history to participate in the Senior Bowl.
A native of Mililani, Hawaii, Ingram started at defensive end and tight end as a senior at Mililani High School in O'ahu. His older brother, Jake, was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fifth round of the 2009 draft and also spent time with the Jaguars in 2011.
Stadium public address announcer finals Saturday at scrimmage
Over a month ago the Jaguars launched an open competition to find a public address announcer for their home games. More than 200 online entries were received, and those entries were subsequently narrowed down to 10 finalists. On July 26th, the 10 finalists were invited to EverBank Field, where they were asked to perform a version of a Jaguars game PA announcer script including ad-libbing and calling live plays. The 10 finalists were scored and reduced to two finalists by a panel of local media experts including Tera Barz, Brent Martineau, and Blythe Brumleve.
The two finalists are complete opposites in many respects – one is a professional announcer from Michigan and the other is a passionate Jaguars fan affiliated with the Teal Street Hooligans and is a member of the Bold City Brigade.
Anthony Bellino is current PA announcer for The University of Toledo, the Toledo Mud Hens, and the ECHL hockey team Toledo Walleye. His "day job" is as a fourth-generation butcher for his family's grocery store, Danny's Fine Foods.
The amateur is local fan Kevin Peffer. Peffer served in the Army and was eventually deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Kevin attended FCCJ and the University of North Florida. He is a lifelong Jaguars fan and still has the t-shirt his mother bought him when Jacksonville was awarded the team in November 30, 1993.
The final piece of the completion will involve a fan vote at Saturday night's scrimmage and online. During the scrimmage, fans will be encouraged to vote by text for the announcer of their preference. The fan voting element will continue until Tuesday. The Jaguars' 2013 PA announcer will be announced on August 7.
