is either the team's punter or the backup quarterback. Some high school football teams will place a wide receiver or running back at the holder position because of their good hands (this is not unheard of at other levels; Steve Tasker, a wide receiver and punt gunner, also played holder at various times in his NFL career, as does his son Luke Tasker, also a wide receiver. Others include tight end Jay Novacek safeties Paul Krause and Keith Lyle). Punter In today's NFL, most teams use their punter as a holder. New England Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick explained that punters are generally holders for the reason that punters and kickers usually have more time together to game plan, watch film, and are able to have more reps during practice than a player who has to play another position. Additionally, punters are already accustomed to handling snaps from the long snapper Backup quarterback The rationale for having a backup quarterback holding is that the quarterback is accustomed to receiving snaps from the center and long snaps from the shotgun formation. He also provides a threat for a fake field goal since the quarterback can throw a pass on such plays. Additionally, in the event of a bad snap and an aborted kick attempt, the holder might have to become the quarterback for the play, so having an actual quarterback helps in that regard. Years ago in the NFL, backup quarterbacks generally held for field goal kicks. Having the backup quarterback play as the holder has faded out in the NFL, mainly due to an NFL rule, in effect until 2011, that allowed teams to dress a third quarterback who could enter the game only in emergencies. However, such usage has remained rather common in collegiate football. Many times a quarterback who was a redshirt freshman will serve as the holder his sophomore year. It is also common in other professional leagues such as the Arena Football League (where there is no punting and are thus no punters) or the Canadian Football League, where roster size restrictions generally result in one person serving as both placekicker and punter. Exceptions There are a few NFL teams that still use a quarterback as their holder. New Orleans Saints – The Saints tend to run more fake field goals than any other team, and due to that they generally keep a backup in as