Jevan Snead

Jevan Bryce Snead (September 2, 1987 – September 21, 2019) was an American football quarterback.

He played college football at Ole Miss after Colt McCoy won the starting quarterback position over him for the Texas Longhorns football team.

He was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent but was cut from the team and was later a pre-season member of the Tampa Bay Storm.

Snead was a prep All-American, two-time all-state and two-time all-district performer for Stephenville High School, who finished his high school career with a 23-2 (.920) record as a starter.

More importantly the Rebels were 8-4 and bowl eligible for the 1st time since 2003.

Snead revised his decision immediately after a recruiting trip to Texas where he watched the 2005 Texas Longhorns football team beat Kansas by a score of 66–14.

Snead's last high school game was a 41–38 loss in the Texas 4A Division 1 State semi-finals against Dallas Highland Park.

That team was led by former Georgia Bulldogs and current LA Rams quarterback, Matthew Stafford.

Following the 2005 season Vince Young declared for the NFL draft, leaving the University of Texas at Austin.

The Texas Longhorns' quarterback position became an open competition between true freshman Snead and redshirt freshman Colt McCoy.

McCoy eventually narrowly beat out Snead for the starting job and thrived in the position, relegating Snead to limited playing time as the backup.

As a senior, he was named to the 2006 Parade All-America team.

He was also listed as a second-team All-American by EA Sports and he earned an invitation to the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp.

Snead was selected for the 2006 U.S. Army All-American Bowl and finished the game with the second-most passing yards in the history of that game, as he threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

Snead originally committed to Florida but decided to go to Texas to be closer to home.

Top high school recruit Tim Tebow later committed to Florida.

During the November 11, 2006 game against the Kansas State Wildcats, McCoy suffered a stinger shoulder injury while rushing for a touchdown on the very first drive of the game.

Snead came into the game in relief.

Snead was sacked five times during the game, rushing 12 times for minus 2 yards, which combined with two fumbles by running backs led to the Longhorns trailing by as much as 21 points in the second half.

Still, Snead brought them within 3 points of tying the game.

However, the Longhorns failed to recover an onside kick and Texas lost in an upset to the Wildcats 45–42.

The game had the distinction of being the most points ever scored by a Texas team in a losing effort.

Texas defensive coordinator Gene Chizik said "The quarterback had a great night and we just didn't play great sudden-change defense".

Head coach Mack Brown also had praise for Snead's performance coming off the bench, adding "If he plays in the game in two weeks, he'll be much more ready."

There was speculation that Snead might be the starter for the final regular season game because it was unknown whether McCoy would return for the Longhorns season closer against arch-rival Texas A&M on November 24, 2006.

The Tuesday prior to the Thursday game, Longhorns announced that McCoy was cleared to play the game against the Aggies.

McCoy played almost the entire game only to be injured with 20 seconds remaining by a powerful tackle by Aggie defensive end Michael Bennett.

Snead, attempting to come from behind 12–7 with so little time on the clock, threw an interception to end the game.

In January 2007, Snead enrolled at the University of Mississippi to play for the Ole Miss Rebels under then-head coach Ed Orgeron.

Due to NCAA transfer rules, Snead had to sit out the 2007 season, but then had three years of eligibility remaining, beginning with the 2008 season.

In the Rebels' 2008 spring game, Snead made 20 of 26 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns.

Head coach Houston Nutt stated to the press that he was "thankful that [Snead] is here on campus".

Nutt looked to Snead to become the starter for the 2008 team.

Through the first twelve games as the starter for the Ole Miss Rebels, Jevan Snead passed for 2470 yards, 23 Touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

The #25-ranked Rebels upset #7 Texas Tech in the 2009 Cotton Bowl Classic 47–34, and Snead completed 18 of 29 passes for 292 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in his first bowl start.

The Rebels began the 2009 season ranked 8 in the AP rankings.

Just days after the Rebels defeated the Memphis Tigers in their first game of 2009, Snead was one of 22 football players who had contracted swine flu.

It was not believed that the illness would prevent Snead from playing any games.

The Rebels finished the 2009 season 4–4 in the SEC and 9-4 overall and defeated Oklahoma State 21–7 in the 2010 Cotton Bowl, in which Snead suffered a helmet-to-helmet hit early in the second quarter and did not return until the fourth quarter.

He was inducted into the Stephenville High School Hall of Fame on September 26, 2014.