Former Michigan State Football Long Snapper Taybor Pepper Cut By Miami

On Monday, Michigan State football alumni Taybor Pepper got the call that no NFL player wants to hear. The starting long snapper for the Spartans’ best years during the Mark Dantonio tenure was released by the Miami Dolphins as the AFC East squad geared up for their summer camp.

Taybor Pepper Had a Unique Route to the League

Pepper was part of Michigan State football’s 2012 recruiting class, signing on as the Spartans started their rise to stardom during the mid 2010s. He became the starting long snapper as a true freshman and never relinquished the role, appearing in all 54 career games he was eligible for during his time in the green and white.

This includes the 2014 Rose Bowl, where he recorded a tackle in punt coverage. His 2014-2015 season saw the Spartans set a new high with 72 successful extra points.

After the 2016 NFL Draft, Pepper bounced around the league, with Green Bay and Baltimore cutting him. He eventually made his NFL debut with the Packers in 2017, but a broken foot ended his tenure.

Pepper spent a year out of football, before a small stint with the New York Giants where he did not make the team. He signed with Miami and was their long snapper in 2019-2020, but was waived after the NFL Draft that offseason.

Pepper landed with San Francisco and spent five seasons there, before being out of football in 2025. He was able to latch back on with Miami this offseason, but his tenure was ended at the end of the NFL Draft for the second time with the Dolphins.

Pepper is still only 31 years old, so there is time for him to latch on and add a few more years to a career. That said, a 100-game career in the NFL is a mark that has plenty of respectability if this is the end of the line for the long snapper.

Not many people, if any, can say that they played in the Rose Bowl, College Football Playoff, Super Bowl, 50 college games, and 100 NFL games. Taybor Pepper is one of a kind.

Interesting Distinction for Pepper, Michigan State football

Before Pepper was cut, he was the last member of Mark Dantonio’s Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff teams to be in the NFL, as Kirk Cousins pre-dates that era of Mark Dantonio and new Detroit Lion Joe Bachie, the next oldest Spartan in the league, enrolled at MSU 10 days after the loss in the College Football Playoff to Alabama.