Ohio State RB Tandem And Their Impactful NFL Careers
Matt Snell:
Matt Snell played right halfback for Woody Hayes in the 1961 season, teaming up with Paul Warfield and fullback Bob Ferguson in the Ohio State backfield. He played defensive end his junior year but moved back to offense and played fullback as a senior.
Like Warfield, Snell was chosen in the first round of the draft but not by an NFL team. It was by the New York Jets in the AFL.
Snell had an outstanding rookie season, rushing for 948 yards, 5 touchdowns and totaling 1,341 yards from scrimmage. Statistically It was to be his best season of his career but not even close to being his biggest accomplishment.
Snell was a solid all-purpose running back who regularly totaled 850-1000 yards per season from scrimmage, and was a good fit in the Joe Namath led passing attack. The Jets developed into a very good team and upset the Oakland Raiders in the 1968 AFL Championship Game to earn the right to play in Super Bowl III. That gave Matt Snell the chance to shine.
The NFL champion Green Bay Packers dominated the AFL champions in the first two Super Bowls (AFL-NFL World Championship Game). The Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 and then the Oakland Raiders 33-14. Everyone expected the NFL champion Baltimore Colts to defeat the Jets handily as well.
The Colts were coming off a 13-1 regular season and were considered one of the greatest NFL teams ever. They were an 18 point favorite over the Jets.
If New York were to have any chance at all to stay with Baltimore, it was assumed that Namath would need to have a big passing day. There was no way the Jets could run the ball against the strong front seven of the Colts. But that’s just what the New York did.
Namath only attempted 28 passes, completing 17 for 206 yards. But he handed the ball to Snell 30 times and the former Buckeye rushed for 121 yards and a score.
They were tough yards against a great defense as Snell’s longest gain was only 14 yards. His four yard touchdown run in the second quarter gave the Jets a 7-0 lead and they went on to win 16-7.
The magnitude of that win can’t really be described to someone too young to remember the game. The merger between the two leagues was set to happen prior to the 1970 season, but nobody thought the AFL teams could compete with the NFL.
The AFL was thought by many to just be a pass happy league with names on the backs of their jerseys and goal posts on the back of the endzone. The league was thought to be soft until Matt Snell ran over the Baltimore Colts.
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The perception of the AFL, later to become the AFC, changed after New York went toe to toe with Baltimore and won. NFL vs AFL was now a rivalry.
Pro football fans started paying attention to the Super Bowl after the Jets victory. The game wouldn’t even sell out before and it had a relatively small TV audience. Super Bowl III was the cornerstone for what has become the nation’s most watched sporting event.
Matt Snell had a fine career but he wasn’t inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame like Paul Warfield. But with his performance in Super bowl III, the point could be made Snell had a bigger impact on the NFL than his former backfield mate.
The two players share one thing in common. Each was named to the Ohio State All-Century Football Team in 2000 at a position they only played one season for the Buckeyes. Snell was chosen as a defensive end, and Warfield at the wide receiver position he played as a senior.
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Ohio State teammates Paul Warfield and Matt Snell were champions in both college and the pros. And they really were two of the all-time Buckeye greats.