Jack Thomas Snow (January 25, 1943 – January 9, 2006) was an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
player who played
wide receiver at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
from 1962 through 1964 and with the
Los Angeles Rams of the
NFL from 1965 to 1975.
Biography
Early years
Snow was a three-sport star at
St. Anthony Boys' High School, Long Beach, California who totaled 10 varsity letters while competing in football, baseball and basketball. He was an All-state football receiver during his senior season and went on to post a .458 batting average as an All-city baseball performer.
College
In his senior year at Notre Dame, he was a consensus
All-American and finished fifth in the
Heisman Trophy voting in 1964 behind the winner, Notre Dame quarterback
John Huarte
John Gregory Huarte (born April 6, 1944) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and won the 1964 Heisman Trophy. He then played profes ...
. The 1964 season was coach
Ara Parseghian
Ara Raoul Parseghian (; hy, Արա Ռաուլ Պարսեղյան; May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football player and coach who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for br ...
's first season with Notre Dame, and he made several key position switches that year, including moving Snow from flanker to split end. Snow lost 15 pounds to compete more effectively as a split receiver. Notre Dame's passing offense in Parseghian's first season helped produce 27 team and individual records, including five set by Snow for receptions (60), receiving yards (1,114) and touchdown catches (9) in a season; receiving yards in a game (217, vs. Wisconsin); and career receiving yards (1,242). He broke the previous record for receiving yards in a game (208, by Jim Morse in a 1955 game vs. USC), more than doubled the old record for receiving yards in a season and scored 19 more receptions in one season than any previous Notre Dame player. Snow also averaged nearly 37 yards per kick as the 1964 team's punter.
NFL career
The
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
selected Snow in the first round (he was the eighth pick overall) in the
1965 NFL Draft
The 1965 National Football League draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants.
The draft was marked by the fail ...
, but soon traded him to the Rams. Snow broke into the Rams' starting lineup in his rookie season of 1965 and remained there. In 1967, he averaged a career-high 26.3 yards per reception and scored eight touchdowns on his 28 receptions. He was named to the West squad in the NFL
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
, but did not appear in the game.
Snow gained a reputation for catching the long pass from quarterback
Roman Gabriel
Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Jr. (born August 5, 1940) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was the second overall pick in the 1962 NFL Draft and played for the Los Angeles Rams for eleven seaso ...
. He remained the Rams' starter at split end until 1974-1975, when he divided time with fellow receivers
Lance Rentzel
Thomas Lance Rentzel (born October 14, 1943) is a former American football flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, and Los Angeles Rams. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma.
...
,
Harold Jackson, and
Ron Jessie
Ron Ray Jessie (February 4, 1948 – January 13, 2006) was an American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills. His best season came in 1976 with the Los Angeles Rams, ...
. He finished his professional career with 340 receptions and 45 touchdowns; his 6012 career receiving yards ranked 30th in NFL history.
Acting and broadcasting career
Snow appeared in the 1969 motion picture ''
Marooned Marooned may refer to:
* Marooning
Marooning is the intentional act of abandoning someone in an uninhabited area, such as a desert island, or more generally (usually in passive voice) to be marooned is to be in a place from which one cannot escape ...
'' (starring
Gregory Peck). He appeared as himself in the 1969 episode "Samantha's Shopping Spree" of the television series ''
Bewitched''. He played Cassidy in the comedy ''
Heaven Can Wait''.
Following his NFL career, Snow went into the real-estate business with college roommate Bob Arboit in
Newport Beach, California. He returned to the Rams as a receivers coach in 1982 under
Ray Malavasi
Ray Malavasi ( ; November 8, 1930 – December 15, 1987) was an American football coach who served as head coach of two professional teams: the 1966 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams.
Early years
Born in Passaic, New Jer ...
. In 1992, he joined Los Angeles sports-talk radio station KMPC (now
KSPN) as an analyst for Rams radio broadcasts and a daily program host. He followed the team to St. Louis in 1995 and was one of a handful of old L.A. Rams still employed by the Rams in the 2005 season, 11 years after their departure from southern California.
Death
Snow developed a
staph infection
A staphylococcal infection or staph infection is an infection caused by members of the ''Staphylococcus'' genus of bacteria.
These bacteria commonly inhabit the skin and nose where they are innocuous, but may enter the body through cuts or abrasio ...
in November 2005 and died at age 62 as a result of complications.
Former Notre Dame All-America Receiver Jack Snow Dies At The Age Of 62
/ref>
Family
Snow's son J.T. Snow is a retired Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
first baseman for the San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...
and Anaheim Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...
. Following the senior Snow's death, the junior Snow changed his uniform number in his father's memory while playing for the Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
.
References
External links
*
*
*http://www.thesnowfoundation.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snow, Jack
1943 births
2006 deaths
20th-century American male actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
All-American college football players
American football wide receivers
College football announcers
Deaths from staphylococcal infection
Infectious disease deaths in Missouri
Los Angeles Rams announcers
Los Angeles Rams players
National Football League announcers
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players
St. Louis Rams announcers
Western Conference Pro Bowl players
People from Rock Springs, Wyoming
Players of American football from Long Beach, California