Beau Gardner’s first NFL chapter lasted two games, as the Chicago Bears waived the former Georgia long snapper on Tuesday, via the NFL transaction wire.
The move came after snap issues in Week 2 against Minnesota, including a high snap that contributed to a blocked field goal.
Head coach Ben Johnson said the kicking operation “was not clean” and that “the snap was not good.”
For Bulldogs fans, the news lands with a mix of pride and the familiar sting of how quickly NFL specialist jobs can turn.
Gardner arrived in Athens from UCLA before the 2024 season and immediately became a fixture. He snapped in every game over two seasons, earned first-team All-SEC honors both years, and in 2025 won the Patrick Mannelly Award as the nation’s top long snapper. He was also named a first-team AFCA All-American.
Georgia’s special teams unit around him was elite: Peyton Woodring was highly accurate on field goals and extra points, and Ray Guy Award winner Brett Thorson ranked among the country’s best punters. Gardner’s snaps were a quiet constant in two SEC championship seasons.
The 6-foot-5, 249-pound San Francisco native signed with Chicago as an undrafted free agent after the 2026 draft. He beat out Luke Elkin in training camp and made the 53-man roster as the only long snapper.
Coaches liked his size, blocking, and coverage ability compared with the more experienced Daly, whom the Bears had let walk in free agency. Gardner handled snaps in the first two regular-season games before the Bears reversed course.
Long snapping is an unforgiving position. One high or slow snap can decide a game and a roster spot. Gardner had no such problems in two years at Georgia.
The jump to the NFL, with tighter windows and higher stakes, exposed growing pains that Chicago was unwilling to live with after a 1-1 start.
Gardner remains a free agent and is still early in his professional career. Specialists often bounce between practice squads and active rosters.
His college résumé — All-American, Mannelly Award, two-time All-SEC, zero notable missed snaps at Georgia — gives him a chance to catch on elsewhere.
For Georgia, he is another reminder of the program’s specialist pipeline and of how quickly the professional game can close a door that college football opened wide.
The Dawgs will watch to see where he lands next.
