Rookie Matt Snell Excels for Jets

Oct. 28, 1964 - It was a little flare pass out to the flank, and Jets quarterback Dick Wood neatly threw the football into Matt Snell’s soft hands. Snell started up the field; he had no blockers.

Gene Sykes, playing safety for the Bills, closed in on Snell. “I hit him a good shot,” said Sykes, “as hard as I know how. But I bounced right off him. He’s tough.”

When the Bills did bring Snell down, the Jet fullback had gained 18 yards. It was a good play, less than exceptional, but the 22‐year‐old rookie had put some extra effort into it.

He extends himself on almost every play, and that may be why Mike Holovak of the Patriots, probably the AFL’s most astute coach, says of Snell, “He’s football’s next Jimmy Brown. He has all the attributes to be great.”

Weeb Ewbank, Snell’s head coach, says Matt is the complete football player. In the pro game this means, in addition to the running and the hitting, that you play when hurt. Snell played the Buffalo game with a dislocated thumb. “But he never told us about it,” said Ewbank. “I have to like that.”

Snell is more than a football player. He is an economic weapon in a costly sports war between the two rival leagues, American and National. He is the Jets’ coming star, the hero the team has been waiting for.

Gerry Moore, the Patriots’ director of publicity, considers Snell as important to the AFL as the league’s $34 million television contract with NBC. Said Moore: “You have to have something special to show on television, and Snell is special. He’s in the showcase town, New York, and he’s going to sell tickets for all of us.”

Sonny Werblin, the Jet president, paid heavily for Snell. The youth’s two‐year contract is estimated to total $50,000, which is about $10,000 more than the Giants were willing to pay Snell in the bidding battle last winter.

Snell represented a bold risk. Neither the Jets nor the Giants knew what Matt might do in pro football because at Ohio State he had to play the Buckeye way, which is only distantly related to the pro version of this game.

Werblin, a horse player, won with Snell. He is the leading ground‐gainer in the AFL and almost certain to be rookie of the year.

“The kid should be better than Cookie Gilchrist eventually because he has more speed,” said Nick Buoniconti, Boston’s star linebacker. The reference was to the 250‐pound Buffalo fullback who holds the all‐pro ground‐gaining record of 243 yards in a single game.

Apart from being an athlete used for an economic purpose, Matt Snell is a delightful human being. His qualities are friendliness, trust, humility, judgment, and a certain sophistication that will serve him well.

Matt grew up in Locust Valley, L. I., and was a Nassau County scholastic star before going to Ohio State on a football scholarship. A couple of summers ago, he helped fabricate the steel for Shea Stadium where he has been the star on so many recent Saturday nights.

“Well, I’ve had a little success running lately,” the humble Snell said today. “I got to improve my blocking. Picking up those blitzing linebackers is hard for me. You don’t do that in college. First time I tried it, the man went right by me. I fell flat on my face — never touched him.

“I just didn’t know about catching passes. I played end one whole year at Ohio State and caught only nine passes. As a back, I never caught one. But I’ve been catching ‘em all right up here.”

That’s Matt Snell.

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