How punter Johnny Hekker became the Rams’ emergency quarterback

Before every Rams game, punter Johnny Hekker quickly slips an extra element into his preparation.

Hekker stands at midfield and lightly tosses a pass to a Rams staff member. Next he rolls to his right and unleashes one down the sideline, rolls left and throws a dart, leans onto his back foot and lobs the ball 40 yards.

Then Hekker returns to ripping punts. He is, after all, only the Rams’ emergency quarterback.

“That’s really the only preparation I do,” Hekker said. “A few fake handoffs, a few tosses, then I just pray I never have to go in.”

Hekker’s role as emergency quarterback is similar to his role as punter: It is better for the Rams if he is on the sideline.

In 1991, the NFL instituted the “Third Quarterback Rule” in response to the infamous “Body Bag Game” between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins in 1990, when a rash of injuries resulted in running back Brian Mitchell playing quarterback for Washington. The rule allowed teams to dress a third quarterback who did not count toward the 45-man game-day roster. The NFL abolished that rule in 2011, and teams can now suit up 46 players but don’t get an automatic spot for a third quarterback.

Most teams dress only two quarterbacks. Earlier this season, when Tom Brady was suspended and backups Jimmy Garappolo and Jacoby Brissett were injured, the Patriots nearly had wide receiver Julian Edelman, a former college quarterback, run the offense.

The Rams (3-4) don’t activate third-string quarterback Sean Mannion, so, barring the use of a wildcat formation, Hekker would be the guy in the nightmarish event that Case Keenum and Jared Goff were injured in the same game.

The fifth-year punter, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, is one of three current NFL specialists who have been tabbed as emergency quarterbacks. The others are Houston Texans punter Shane Lechler and Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee.

“It’s just always been something coaches have talked to me about. I was a high school quarterback, I know a little bit about the position,” Hekker said.

Hekker played quarterback at Bothell (Wa.) High northeast of Seattle, and recounts those days with modesty. “I threw for a couple yards and some touchdowns,” he said.

But Tom Bainter, who coached him at Bothell, said the the 6-foot-5 Hekker was a quarterback who punted. Not the other way around.

In Hekker’s senior season, he led Bothell to a state championship and was named athlete of the year by a local newspaper. Bainter, who is still the Cougars’ head coach, said Hekker threw about 20 passes a game at the helm of a run-based offense.

Hekker was planning to walk on at Oregon State and see if he could get noticed at quarterback. But on national signing day in February 2008, Bainter received a call from a number he didn’t recognize.

“Has Johnny Hekker signed anywhere?” asked a coach from Utah State.

“Let me talk to Johnny,” Bainter remembers saying.

They discussed the options — take a scholarship and play quarterback for the Aggies, or take a leap of faith at Oregon State. Hekker stuck to the original plan.

When Mike Riley, then Oregon State’s coach, sat down to review his incoming class, he popped in Hekker’s highlight tape. Riley, who is now at Nebraska, knew the tall redhead wanted a shot at quarterback. But it was crowded at the position, and he was not sure what to do with him.

An answer presented itself at the tail end of the video. After 10 minutes or so of quarterback highlights, Hekker had tacked on a few shots of him punting. Riley excitedly sent the video to Bruce Reid, a colleague who was then the New York Giants’ special teams coordinator. Reid confirmed that Hekker was raw but talented, and had a lot of upside as a punter.

Riley told Hekker he could make the NFL as a punter. Hekker spent the summer before his freshman year working with a private punting coach in Texas.

“We had some really good players there, so I don’t know if he could have started. But Johnny Hekker was a good quarterback, that much I know,” Riley said.

For the Rams, Hekker has flashed his passing ability on a few fake punts in the last few seasons, and some have gone for big gains. Rams middle linebacker Alec Ogletree, who faces Hekker during scout team work, said Hekker is “pretty accurate with the ball” and is “above average.” But punting is what he does best.

This season his 38 punts rank second in the NFL. He loves the role, especially when he sees quarterbacks staying at the team facility for film sessions that bleed into the night. Practices are fairly easy and, when the Rams’ offense is clicking, games can be too.

“It’s very, very tough to be quarterback in the NFL. I’m not saying being a punter is any easier but …” Hekker said, and then he looked around his locker for someone to react.

“But it’s easier,” Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein said from a feet away.

“Yeah,” Hekker said, laughing. “It’s definitely easier.”

He does not study the Rams’ playbook during the week. His quarterback reps in practice are limited to slow-motion scout-team throws. If his number is ever called, he would like to turn, hand the ball to Todd Gurley and watch plays unfold.

“I’d just be going in there and the coaches would never do anything crazy where I wouldn’t be comfortable doing it,” Hekker said.

That is because Hekker has done it before.