Norm Snead

Norman Bailey Snead (July 31, 1939 – January 14, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, and San Francisco 49ers. He played college football for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and was the second overall selection of the 1961 NFL draft.

Snead grew up in Newport News, Virginia, the son of Hugh, a farmer, and Louise Snead. He attended Warwick High School, where he was a three-sport star athlete (basketball, football, and baseball). Snead won all six pitching decisions as a sophomore and junior, and he averaged 23 points in basketball as a senior, scoring 41 in one game. He split time as starting quarterback as a junior, then as a senior he passed for nearly 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns. In a game against Hampton, Snead threw what would be the game-winning touchdown pass, then intercepted a pass on Hampton's next series to seal the outcome. He was named second-team all-state, and graduated in 1957.

Snead attended Wake Forest University, where he set 15 conference single-game, season and career passing records. His passing statistics with the Demon Deacons included:

In 1958, Snead was named the second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference quarterback, and in 1959 and 1960 he earned first-team All-ACC honors. In 1960, Snead was named second-team All-American as a quarterback by UPI and the Football Writers Association of America.

In 1984, he was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

Snead was named to the Pro Bowl on four occasions: in 1962, 1963, 1965, and in 1972, during the last of which he led the NFL in completion percentage and was second in passer rating.

Snead was drafted in 1961 by both the National Football League and the American Football League, and Snead elected to join the Redskins, who selected him second overall. Unfortunately, the team was in the middle of a Dark Age, as they had not had a winning season since 1956 nor made a playoff game since 1946. Starting with a new coach in Bill McPeak, Snead would start in each game for 1961, which proved to a miserable one. Snead had three games with at least three interceptions and the team did not win a game until the season finale against the upstart Dallas Cowboys. Snead threw 11 touchdowns to 22 interceptions for 2,337 yards. He was in the top ten for pass attempts, completions, yards, and interceptions (3rd, 4th, 6th, and 3rd, respectively). Snead would improve slightly for the next season, as he would throw for 2,926 yards with 22 touchdowns and interceptions as he won five games for the Redskins, and it was good enough for a selection to the Pro Bowl. The next season was his last with the Redskins, and it was a miserable one. In a 3–11 season, he threw for 3,043 yards (the first of two 3,000-yard seasons) while throwing 13 touchdowns and 27 interceptions (a league high), but he was nevertheless selected to the Pro Bowl once again. His highlight game in yards came against the Pittsburgh Steelers, as he threw for 424 yards for the only 400-yard game of his career in a 34–28 loss.

Snead was traded along with Claude Crabb from the Redskins to the Philadelphia Eagles for Sonny Jurgensen and Jimmy Carr on 31 March 1964. The transaction was part of a youth movement by recently appointed Eagles head coach and general manager Joe Kuharich, as both Snead and Crabb were age 24 at the time while Jurgensen and Carr were 29 and 31 respectively. In seven seasons with the Eagles, Snead was the primary starter for each season (starting 81 of 98 possible games), although the result would be that Snead was part of another team in a decades-long slump. Snead started the first nine games of his first season with the team before starting one of the final five games. He threw for 1,096 yards while throwing 14 touchdowns to 12 interceptions as the Eagles won six games. The Eagles continued their spin in 1965, as Snead started 10 games and won 4 while throwing 2,346 yards for 15 touchdowns to thirteen interceptions and garnered a Pro Bowl selection.