Paxton's life-of-the-party persona and infamous snow angel celebration following the win over the Oakland Raiders in the 2001 playoffs gave him cult status. His ability to flawlessly fire a Football between his legs gave the Patriots peace of mind on punts, field goals, and extra points.

That's why Nathan Hodel knows that replacing Paxton, who departed for Denver and a five-year, $5.38 million deal, won't be a snap. Hodel, who handled every long snap for the Arizona Cardinals from 2002-08, isn't Paxton, and he's not trying to be.

The 31-year-old Hodel has tattooed forearms like Paxton, but he is his own man. Hodel is married with two children. He has a master's degree in business administration from the University of Illinois, where he walked on as a long snapper and also played on the baseball team, and one of his hobbies is graphic design.

He might not have long snapped for a Super Bowl-winning kick, but he was the long snapper for Arizona in 2005, when Neil Rackers set an NFL record by converting 40 field goals.

``Lonie, he did his thing out here and I know people appreciated it,'' said Hodel, an ice pack wrapped around the left knee he had surgery on two weeks after Arizona's loss to Pittsburgh in last February's Super Bowl. ``I'll try to carve out my own little niche. I don't think I can replace Lonie because, like you said, he was like that cult icon out here. I'll just try and do my best to perform the duties and not mess it up.''

Paxton's decision to sign with Denver set off a chain of events that led to Hodel landing in New England. Paxton displaced Broncos long snapper Mike Leach, who replaced Hodel in Arizona.

Hodel wasn't expecting to be a Patriot. He had signed a four-year, $3.7 million deal with Arizona in 2008. He was surprised when the Cardinals released him in March. He was relieved when his agent got a call from new Patriots special teams coach Scott O'Brien.

There is history between Hodel and O'Brien. Hodel started his NFL career with Carolina in 2001, when O'Brien was the Panthers' special teams coach. Hodel spent six weeks on Carolina's practice squad before he was released and picked up by Arizona.

Hodel was grateful that O'Brien recommended him to the Patriots , even though he was coming off knee surgery.

``I'm real appreciative of that, and that just makes me work that much harder that somebody is going to put their word out there for you,'' said Hodel. ``That makes you not only want to succeed for yourself and the team, but for that coach as well.''

The engaging and articulate Hodel, who served as Arizona's players' union representative, acknowledged that he knew little about the Patriots before his free agent visit.

``I know that they win,'' said Hodel. ``Some guys around the league have a notion that the Patriots can be kind of arrogant, but what I think is that if you're winning you can do whatever you want. You can kind of write your own ticket. I didn't have any real preconceived notion. It was really when I took that visit, and I was in the building and it's just all Football. There is no nonsense.''

Hodel, who signed a one-year deal with a $745,000 base salary, is the presumed replacement for Paxton. However, he'll have to overcome rookie Jake Ingram. He said the knee shouldn't be an issue.

``I'm cleared to do the minicamps and everything right now,'' said Hodel. ``I just had to get a little something fixed. I just flew to St. Louis to meet with the doc that did it, and he cleared me to do all my stuff now. I've been in [Gillette Stadium] with the trainers, who are a great group of guys, and they've been helping me work real hard to get it right. I don't see any problems.''

Hodel said he's already been working with kicker Stephen Gostkowski during the offseason and described Gostkowski and punter/holder Chris Hanson as ``two professionals.''

Hodel also knows that some fans will be concerned about his ability to long snap in bad weather after spending the last seven seasons in the desert.

``Lonie has done a great job up here, especially in the conditions,'' said Hodel. ``It's obviously a little easier to snap in Arizona, but I did that at Illinois, we had a lot of weather, so it will be a little return to my college years.''

Just don't expect Hodel to be doing snow angels in the end zone.

``I don't know. Maybe I'll work on it with my kids when it snows,'' said Hodel. ``Maybe I'll try something new. Lonie has got the patent on that.''

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper @globe.com.