Jevan Snead

Jevan Bryce Snead (born September 2, 1987) is a former American football quarterback. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent. He played college football at Mississippi and Texas.

Snead has also been a member of the Tampa Bay Storm.

Early years

Snead was a prep All-American, two-time all-state and two-time all-district performer for Stephenville (Texas) High School, who finished his high school career with a 23-2 (.920) record as a starter.^[1] As a senior, he was named to the 2006 Parade All-America team.^[1] He was also listed as a second-team All-American by EA Sports and he earned an invitation to the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp.^[1] Snead was selected to the 2006 U.S. Army All-American Bowl and finished the game with the second-most passing yards in the history of that game, as he threw for 147 yards and two TDs.^[1]

Snead originally committed to Florida but decided to go to Texas to be closer to home. Top high school recruit Tim Tebow later committed to Florida.^[2][3] Snead revised his decision immediately after a recruiting trip to Texas where he watched the 2005 Texas Longhorn football team beat Kansas by a score of 66-14.^[4]

Snead's last high school game was a 41-38 loss in the Texas 4A Division 1 State semi-finals against Dallas Highland Park.^[5] That team was led by former Georgia Bulldogs and current Detroit Lions quarterback, Matthew Stafford.

He was inducted into the Stephenville High School Hall of Fame on September 26, 2014.^[6]

College career

Texas Longhorns

Jevan Snead throws an interception vs Texas A&M

Following the 2005 season Vince Young declared for the NFL draft, leaving the University of Texas at Austin. The Texas Longhorns' quarterback position became an open competition between true freshman Snead and redshirt freshman Colt McCoy. McCoy eventually narrowly beat out Snead for the starting job and thrived in the position, relegating Snead to limited playing time as the backup.^[7]

During the November 11, 2006 game against the Kansas State Wildcats, McCoy suffered a stinger shoulder injury^[8][9][10] while rushing for a touchdown on the very first drive of the game.^[11] Snead came into the game in relief. Snead was sacked five times during the game, rushing 12 times for minus 2 yards, which combined with two fumbles by running backs led to the Longhorns trailing by as much as 21 points in the second half.^[12] Still, Snead brought them within 3 points of tying the game. However, the Longhorns failed to recover an onside kick and Texas lost in an upset to the Wildcats 45-42.^[11] The game has the distinction of being the most points ever scored by a Texas team in a losing effort.^[13] Texas defensive coordinator Gene Chizik said "The quarterback had a great night and we just didn't play great sudden-change defense".^[14] Head coach Mack Brown also had praise for Snead's performance coming off the bench, adding "If he plays in the game in two weeks, he'll be much more ready."^[15]

There was speculation that Snead might be the starter for the final regular season game because it was unknown whether McCoy would return for the Longhorns season closer against arch-rival Texas A&M on November 24, 2006.^[16][17][18] The Tuesday prior to the Thursday game, Longhorns announced that McCoy was cleared to play the game against the Aggies.^[19] McCoy played almost the entire game only to be injured with 20 seconds remaining by a powerful tackle by Aggie defensive end Michael Bennett.^[20] Snead, attempting to come from behind 12-7 with so little time on the clock, threw an interception to end the game.^[21]

Ole Miss Rebels

In January 2007, Snead enrolled at the University of Mississippi to play for the Ole Miss Rebels under then-head coach Ed Orgeron.^[22][23] Due to NCAA transfer rule, Snead had to sit out the 2007 season, but then had three years of eligibility remaining, beginning with the 2008 season. In the Rebels' 2008 spring game, Snead made 20 of 26 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns. Head coach Houston Nutt, who took over the Ole Miss team in the 2008 season, stated that he "is thankful that [Snead] is here on campus".^[24] Nutt looked to Snead to become the starter for the 2008 team.^[25] Through the first twelve games as the starter for the Ole Miss Rebels, Jevan Snead passed for 2470 yards, 23 Touchdowns and 12 interceptions.^[26] More importantly the Rebels were 8-4 and Bowl eligible for the 1st time since 2003.^[27] The #25 Ole Miss Rebels upset #7 Texas Tech Red Raiders in the 2009 Cotton Bowl Classic by a final score of 47-34. This was to be the last "Cotton Bowl" game to be played in its namesake stadium in Dallas. Future games would be played in Arlington, Texas at the Cowboy's Stadium. Snead completed 18 of 29 passes for 292 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in his first Bowl start.

At the start of his junior season, Snead was widely considered as one of the best quarterbacks in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Rebels began the 2009 season ranked 8 in the AP rankings. Just days after the Rebels defeated the Memphis Tigers in their first game of 2009, Snead was one of 22 football players who had contracted swine flu. It was not believed that the illness would prevent Snead from playing any games.^[28] Under Snead's leadership, the Rebels finished the 2009 season 4-4 in the SEC and 9-4 overall and the Ole Miss Rebels were again headed for another bowl game. For a consecutive year, the Ole Miss Rebels went to the 2010 Cotton Bowl Classic to play against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. This was also the second meeting between Ole Miss and Oklahoma State in a Cotton Bowl Classic game. The two teams met in the 2004 Cotton Bowl Classic, which Ole Miss won 31-28 on the arm of quarterback Eli Manning. Ole Miss has the distinction of playing (and winning) in the last ever Cotton Bowl Classic held in the old Cotton Bowl stadium and playing (and winning) in the first ever Cotton Bowl Classic held in its new home at Cowboys AT&T Stadium. In this 2010 edition of the Cotton Bowl Classic, Ole Miss defeated Oklahoma State by a score of 21-7. With the win, Ole Miss became the first team to win back-to-back Cotton Bowl Classics since Notre Dame did so in 1993 and 1994. However, Snead playing time gets limited. At the 13:45 minute mark of the second quarter with a score of 0-0, Snead throws an interception. While running to tackle the OSU player who just received his intercepted pass, he takes a huge blind side "helmet to helmet" hit by OSU #10 Markelle Martin. Snead's helmet is knocked from his head and his head hits the ground. He goes down and stays down. No penalty was called. Snead sat out the rest of the 1st half and did not get back into the game until the 4th quarter. He was not the same. Game passing total only 168 yds. Completed 13 of 23 with 3 interceptions. Ole Miss' running game gets it done and they win 21-7 over OSU. Back to back Cotton Bowl wins is not a bad way to end a college career. Snead ended his 2010 season by passing for 2632 yards, with 20 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. After the season, Snead declared for the 2010 NFL Draft.^[29]

Snead's 2008 and 2009 seasons rank 6th and 8th, respectively, in Ole Miss's career ranking of single-season passing yards. Snead's career total of 5,394 ranks 6th all-time at Ole Miss.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Entering his junior season at Ole Miss, Snead was considered a top-2 quarterback prospect (along with Sam Bradford) in the 2010 NFL Draft, according to his former high school coach Chad Morris.^[30] In April 2009, CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco even projected Snead to be the first overall pick in 2010.^[31] After his junior season, which saw him throw 20 touchdowns and 20 interceptions, Snead requested a draft evaluation from the NFL Draft Advisory Board, and he received a fourth-round draft grade.^[30] However, he went undrafted.^[30]

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After going undrafted, Snead signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on April 24, 2010. He was released on July 31, 2010, to make room on the 80-man training camp roster for newly signed first round draft pick Gerald McCoy.^[32] On August 24, 2010, Snead re-signed with Tampa Bay, after starting quarterback Josh Freeman suffered a thumb injury that sidelined him for the rest of the preseason.^[33] Snead was to back-up Josh Johnson and Rudy Carpenter before the Buccaneers again cut Snead on September 4, 2010.

Tampa Bay Storm

On January 4, 2011, Snead signed a contract to play for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League.^[34] He was released prior to the start of the season on March 6.^[35]

After football

According to his former high school football coach, as of January 2015, Snead works as an oil field supplies salesman in San Antonio, Texas.^[30]

References

External links

• Ole Miss football bio