Willie Snead

Willie Snead IV (born October 17, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He played college football at Ball State.^[1]

High school

Willie Snead IV played his freshman year at Glade Central High School in Belle Glade, Fla. The Snead family then moved to Michigan where Willie Snead III took the head coaching job at Holland Christian in Holland, Mich. Holland Christian went 14-0 in 2008 winning the state championship. Willie Snead IV as a sophomore was one of the top receivers with 35 receptions, 543 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns.^[2]

Another move to Muskegon took Willie Snead IV to Muskegon Heights High School where he would play his final two years of high school football. His senior year, Snead was named Michigan Division 5-6 Player of the Year by the Associated Press.^[3] At Muskegon Heights Snead played quarterback and in his senior year he threw for 2,200 passing yards with 13 touchdowns and one interception. He rushed for an additional 1,083 yards and nine TDs. Snead also played defense as a linebacker and safety with one interception and 76 tackles.^[4]

College career

2011 season

Willie Snead’s first start for the Cardinals in 2011 was against Army and he would start in 4 games. Snead would make his first start a memorable one raking up 180 receiving yards (11th best single game receiving yardage in Ball State history) and 1 touchdown.^[5] His first career reception came at South Florida and his first career touchdown catch came vs. Buffalo. Ball State would finish the season 6-6 with another win over Army 48-21 and two notable losses to #22 ranked South Florida and #2 ranked Oklahoma. Snead would finish his freshman season with 327 receiving yards and 2 touchdown catches.^[6]

2012 season

In the 2012 season Snead started in 12 games and played in all 13. At the end of the 2012 season Snead was tied for third on Ball State's single season receptions and third for single season receiving yards. In his sophomore season Snead ended the year 25th in the nation on receiving yards per game averaging 88 yards per game. Snead would finish the season with 89 receptions, 1148 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns. His 9 touchdown catches gave him the 6th best single-season record in Ball State history.^[7]

The Ball State Cardinals would finish the 2012 season 9-3 with important wins over #25th ranked Toledo 34-27, the then Big East’s South Florida 31-27 and for a second year in a row the Big Ten’s Indiana University 41-39. The three regular season losses came to # 12 ranked Clemson, Kent State and Northern Illinois. Both Kent State and Northern Illinois would go on to be ranked in the top 25. Willie Snead would start for Ball State in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl game in St. Petersburg Florida where they were ultimately defeated by the University of Central Florida 38-17.^[8]

2013 season

Snead helped to lead the Ball State Cardinals to another successful season, finishing 10-3. Willie Snead and quarterback Keith Wenning under head coach Pete Lembo helped the Ball State Cardinals become bowl eligible for the third consecutive year. Snead has had 100 yards or more in receptions in 9 games in 2013. He finished the 2013-14 season with 106* receptions for 1516* yards and 15* touchdowns. With 1,516 yards, Snead IV now holds the single-season receiving record at Ball State.^[9][10]

Snead entered the 2014 NFL Draft after the 2013 season.^[11][12]

Statistics

Willie Snead is one of only two players in Ball State history to have two 1,000 yard receiving seasons. Snead ranks 4th in Ball State history with 223 career receptions. With 2,991 career receiving yards he ranks and 3rd in Ball State history. Willie Snead has more games with 100+ yards receiving than any other player in Ball State history, currently holding the record with 13. Snead’s 26 touchdown catches currently ranks third in career TD receptions at Ball State.^[13]

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Snead went undrafted in 2014 but he quickly signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cleveland Browns.^[14] Snead gave a strong showing during the Browns training camp and secured playing time in the preseason games.^[15] In the Browns second preseason game vs the Washington Redskins Snead pulled down two passes from Johnny Manziel. Both were called back due to penalties called on other players. His first true reception came on a 15-yard pass from Connor Shaw. Snead finished the game with 3 receptions for 29 yards. At the end of the game Snead also tipped a Hail Mary pass into the hands of TE Emmanuel Ogbuehi. Snead made the final round of cuts with the Browns before being released.

Carolina Panthers

After an unsuccessful tryout with the New York Giants, Snead signed with the Carolina Panthers practice squad on 23 Sep, 2014.^[16]

New Orleans Saints

Snead became a member of the New Orleans Saints's practice squad on 11 Dec, 2014.^[17]

2015

Snead caught his first career regular season NFL touchdown pass during a Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on September 20, 2015. In a Week 5 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Snead caught 6 receptions for 141 yards. Then, in a Week 12 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Snead caught 7 receptions for 122 yards. He finished his first full professional season with 69 receptions for 984 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Awards

• Selected as a Biletnikoff Award Semifinalists in 2012 & 2013^[18]
• 2012 All-MAC First Team Offense
• 2013 All-MAC First Team Offense^[19]
• 2013 Honorable Mention WR All-American by Sports Illustrated^[20]

Personal life

His father, Willie Snead III,^[21] played wide receiver at Virginia and Florida and was later drafted by the New York Jets in the 12th round of the 1989 NFL Draft.^[22]

Snead has a wife and son.

References

External links

• Profile at CBS Sports
• Profile at ESPN
• Profile at Yahoo Sports