Norm Snead, an NFL quarterback for 16 seasons in the 1960s and 1970s who was a four-time Pro Bowl pick and attended Wake Forest, died. He was 84.
Snead died Sunday in Naples, Florida, according to his brother, Danny, who spoke with The Associated Press on Monday. The reason of death was not disclosed. Washington selected Snead second overall in the 1961 NFL selection, while the Buffalo Bills took him 33rd in the American Football League draft the same year. He selected Washington and spent three seasons there, making two Pro Bowl appearances, before being sold to the Philadelphia Eagles for Sonny Jurgensen and Claude Crabb.
Jurgensen was with Philadelphia when the Eagles won the league championship in 1960.
He became Washington’s franchise face, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and worked as an announcer for the team for decades. Snead spent seven seasons with the Eagles during a time when they never made the playoffs. Despite this, he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1965, when he passed for 15 touchdowns and 2,346 yards and led a league-high three game-winning drives for a club that finished 5-9.
Near the end of his career, he hopped around, playing one season for Minnesota, 2½ for the New York Giants, and 1½ for San Francisco. He returned to the Giants in 1976 before retiring in 1977.
Snead went 52-100-7 in 159 NFL starts, scoring 196 touchdowns.
His 257 interceptions are sixth on the career list. He was named All-ACC twice and set over a dozen conference records during his three years at Wake Forest (1958-60). Snead once remarked, “I couldn’t run and couldn’t get out of my own way, but I could throw the football.”
He was born in Halifax County, Virginia, and attended Warwick High School, where he played football, basketball, and baseball. He was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.
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