Norm Snead, the quarterback who made four Pro Bowls in his 16-season NFL career, including 1972 with the Giants, died Sunday in Naples, Fla., according to multiple reports. He was 84.
Snead died after a lengthy illness, his brother Danny said told The Virginian-Pilot.
He was a standout at Wake Forest, where he later had his No. 16 retired, being named First-Team All-ACC in 1959 and 1960.
The quarterback made the Pro Bowl with Washington in 1961 and 1962 but was traded to the Eagles for future Hall of Fame quarterback Sonny Jurgensen.
He would make the Pro Bowl again in 1965 but struggled in the latter part of the decade and was traded to the Vikings for the 1971 season.
After playing sparingly in Minnesota, the Giants acquired him for Fran Tarkenton.
Snead went 8-5 as a starter in 1972, leading the league in completion percentage and throwing more touchdowns than interceptions for the first time in five years.
The Giants wouldn’t have another winning season until 1981 and wouldn’t have another quarterback make the Pro Bowl until Phil Simms in 1985.
Snead later played for the 49ers before rejoining the Giants in 1976 to end his career, in which he threw for over 30,000 yards.
“I played whether I was hurt or whether I was expected to play or whatever the reason, I played,” he said in 2020. “I enjoyed all the cities that I played in and the people I played with. That’s what I’m most proud of – that relationship.”
“I didn’t win any Super Bowl rings and all that sort of things. That’s what you play for and that was everybody’s goal, but there’s been a lot of great players that never got there.”
He served two stints as head coach at The Apprentice School, a vocational school in Virginia.
Snead later became a realtor.
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