Quarterback Norm Snead, who was a four-time Pro Bowl selection in a 16-year NFL career during the 1960s and ‘70s, died on Sunday. He was 84.
Snead died at his home in Naples, Florida, The New York Times reported. His wife, Susan Patsel, confirmed Snead’s death but did not specify a cause, according to the newspaper.
Snead, who was born in Halifax County, Virginia, and played college football at Wake Forest, was Washington’s first-round pick (and second overall) in the 1961 NFL draft, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.
He played three seasons in Washington and was selected twice to the Pro Bowl but was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for fellow quarterback Sonny Jurgensen and defensive back Claude Crabb, the Times reported.
Snead spent seven seasons with the Eagles, and even though the franchise never reached the NFL playoffs during that time, he was named to the Pro Bowl in 1965, according to The Associated Press. That season, Snead threw for 15 touchdowns and 2,346 yards for a team that went 5-9, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.
Snead would be traded to the Minnesota Vikings and then was sent to the New York Giants in 1972 for Fran Tarkenton, two more players and draft picks, the Times reported.
He led the Giants to an 8-6 record and had a league-leading 60.3% completion rate while throwing for 2,307 yards and 17 touchdowns, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. That earned him a fourth trip to the Pro Bowl, and he got a measure of revenge when he led New York to a 62-10 victory against Philadelphia, throwing for three touchdowns.
Those are the most points scored by the Giants in the franchise’s history, the Times reported.
Snead was traded to San Francisco midway through the 1974 season but returned to New York in 1976 and retired after that season, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.
He finished his career with 30,797 passing yards and 196 touchdowns.
Snead, who played football at Warwick High School, was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.
He coached high school football at the Newport News Apprentice School for 10 seasons -- from 1977 to 1984, and from 1988 to 1989 -- according to the Daily Press.
Born on July 31, 1939, Snead and his wife worked as real estate agents in Florida after his retirement, the Times reported.