Spencer Schnell (born December 7, 1994) is 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 with ...

wide receiver who is a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

Early life and high school

Schnell was born and grew up in

Elkhart, Indiana Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana, east of Chicago, Illinois, and north of Indianapolis, Indiana. Elkhart has the larger population of the two principal cities of th ...

, and attended

Elkhart Central High School Elkhart Central High School (ECHS) was a public secondary school in Elkhart, Indiana. It was a part of Elkhart Community Schools. History In the fall of 1972 when Elkhart High School (est. 1872) was split into Elkhart Memorial High School and ...

. He was named second-team All-

Northern Indiana Athletic Conference The Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) is a high school athletic conference that was founded in 1927 and spanned from as far west as Hammond and Gary to South Bend/Mishawaka and Elkhart to the east and south to Plymouth. Since its start in 1927, a ...

(NIAC) after catching 58 passes for 984 yards and eight touchdowns in his junior season. As a senior, Schnell caught 101 passes for 1,458-yards and 11 touchdowns with two punts returned for touchdowns and was named first-team All-NIAC and first-team All-Region.

College career

Schnell began his collegiate career at

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, joining the team as a walk-on and redshirting his true freshman season with the expectation that he would receive a scholarship the following year. He left the school after the scholarship was instead given to a fifth year player and transferred to

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

. He spent a year away from football as he established residency in Illinois to pay in-state tuition before joining the Illinois State football team as a walk-on. In his first season playing, Schnell caught 59 passes for 479 yards and a touchdown and returned 22 punts for 228 yards and was named to the

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...

(MVFC) All-Newcomer team. The following season, he was named second-team All-MVFC after leading the team with 51 receptions for 679 yards and four touchdowns. As a redshirt senior, Schnell led the MVC with 65 receptions and was second in the conference with 872 receiving yards and nine touchdowns and was named first-team All-MVFC.

Professional career

Schnell signed with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on May 11, 2019. Schnell was waived at the end of training camp during final roster cuts. He was re-signed by the Buccaneers to their practice squad on December 16, 2019, and was promoted to the Buccaneers active roster two days later on December 18. Schnell made his NFL debut on December 21, 2019, against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, returning two punts for three yards. On July 31, 2020, Schnell was waived by the Buccaneers. Schnell visited the Buccaneers on August 23, 2020, and was re-signed by the team on August 25, 2020. He was waived on September 5, 2020.

Personal

Schnell's father,

Dave Schnell David Schnell (July 15, 1966 – May 22, 2011) was an American football player. He attended Elkhart Central High School in Elkhart, Indiana, and he was selected by ''Sports Illustrated'' in 1985 as the best high school football player in the Uni ...

, was the starting quarterback at

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, was an All-Big Ten selection and inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame, and later played quarterback for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. Dave Schnell passed away of leukemia at the age of 44 when Spencer was 16 years old.

References

External links

Illinois State Redbirds bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schnell, Spencer 1994 births Living people American football wide receivers Illinois State Redbirds football players Sportspeople from Elkhart, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana Tampa Bay Buccaneers players