Matt Snell, the battering ram fullback whose opening touchdown and grinding ground game in Super Bowl III helped the New York Jets topple the Baltimore Colts in one of professional football’s greatest upsets, died on Tuesday in East Meadow, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 84.
His death, at an assisted living facility, was confirmed by his son, Beau, who did not provide a specific cause.
Super Bowl III, the championship game that followed the 1968 season, was a pivotal win for the American Football League, dismantling what had been, until then, the supremacy of the National Football League.
The N.F.L. and A.F.L. had agreed to merge in 1966, before the first Super Bowl, and the Green Bay Packers dominated the leagues’ first two championship matchups. But beginning with the Jets’ title, franchises that had started in the A.F.L. won four of the next six title games.
In the lead-up to Super Bowl III, the Jets’ flamboyant quarterback, Joe Namath — known in the New York press as “Broadway Joe” — had captivated reporters with his flashy outfits and his bold “guarantee” that the Jets would be victorious, even as roughly 18-point underdogs. But it was Snell who pounded out the 16-7 win, controlling the final minutes of the fourth quarter and finishing with 161 total yards.
Snell’s competitive fire was fueled partly by a conventional wisdom that said Tom Matte and Jerry Hill of the Colts would form the game’s superior backfield, as Dave Anderson, a sportswriter for The New York Times, recounted in his 1969 book about Super Bowl III, “Countdown to Super Bowl.”
“For the first time in my life, I’m going to be looking for people to run into,” Anderson quoted Snell as telling Jets halfback Emerson Boozer, who went on to deliver key blocks in the game. “I’m going to be looking to punish people.”
Boozer replied, “Be looking for the goal line, too.”
Snell did both without flinching, touching the ball a career-high 34 times in a single game. He was a key pass protector for Namath, whose bad knees limited his mobility, and on the game’s second play from scrimmage, Snell knocked out the Colts’ All-Pro safety, Rick Volk, during a 9-yard gain.
That run set the tone for the Jets, who wanted to keep the ball away from a dangerous Colts offense. In an interview for this obituary in 2023, Jets left guard Randy Rasmussen described Snell as the typical fullback from Ohio State: “You run over anything that gets in front of you, and he pretty much did.”
It was after a scoreless first quarter that Snell really got rolling. Following a 1-yard gain, he bowled over defenders on consecutive runs of 7, 6 and 12 yards down the left sideline. Snell took over again after a break for oxygen, catching a 12-yard pass from Namath before carries of 5 and 4 yards.
The 80-yard drive ended with a touchdown, with Snell narrowly evading two Colts to give the A.F.L. its first-ever Super Bowl lead.
That touchdown, and much of Snell’s success throughout the game, came on a play that the Jets called 19 Straight: After taking the handoff, Snell would bounce to the left behind Boozer, Rasmussen and tackle Winston Hill before deciding whether to cut inside or outside. Both Snell and Boozer had “19 Straight” engraved inside their Super Bowl rings, according to the 2018 book “Beyond Broadway Joe,” by Bob Lederer.
“We passed when we had to,” Rasmussen said. “We ran when we wanted to.”
On the team’s final drive, Snell carried the ball six consecutive times. He picked up only 17 yards but got a crucial first down. When the Colts got the ball back, only 10 seconds remained.
Little did Snell know that the apex of his career was near its end. He had overcome injuries early in his career, including torn knee cartilage and a dislocated thumb, but after one more solid season, in which he was named an All-Pro, he was derailed by health problems.
In October 1970, he tore his right Achilles’ tendon, lamenting through tears in the locker room that his career was finished, while a doctor tried to convince him of otherwise. But Snell was right, and he never recorded another rushing attempt. When a collision with an opponent’s helmet severely bruised his right knee the following preseason, he was limited to special teams while watching John Riggins take over his former role. In the final game of another comeback bid with the Jets, in 1972, Snell ruptured his spleen. He announced his retirement in March 1973.
Matthews Snell was born in Garfield, Ga., on Aug. 18, 1941, to Isaac and Annie Snell. He grew up on Long Island, and as a summer laborer in college helped build Shea Stadium, the home of the Jets during his career. Snell played three years of football for Coach Woody Hayes at Ohio State, sandwiching one successful season as a defensive end and linebacker between stints in the backfield.
He led the Jets in rushing yards in five seasons and was named the A.F.L.’s rookie of the year in 1964, after an electrifying season in which he gained 948 rushing yards and 393 receiving yards. In his fourth game with the Jets, Snell rushed for two touchdowns and 168 yards, the most for the franchise since it was founded in 1959. The next week, he topped that with a 180-yard performance.
That team mark would last for 21 years.
Toward the end of his playing career, Snell began transitioning to the business world. He owned a restaurant in Manhattan for several years and was a partner in Wall Street securities firms before starting a construction business in Jersey City, N.J.
In addition to his son, Beau, Snell is survived by his wife, Sharon Searight; a daughter, Jada; a grandson; two sisters, Dorothy Robinson and Viola O’Neal; and a brother, Isaac.
Snell had experienced the rivalry between the A.F.L. and N.F.L. several years before Super Bowl III.
Drafted in 1964 by both the Jets and the Giants, he was forced to choose between two New York teams. Concerned that the Giants would have him sit on the bench for years, Snell signed with the Jets, securing a larger contract as well as a new car.
He reaped a similar reward after the Super Bowl, the only one the franchise has ever appeared in. Reporters named Namath, who had an efficient yet unexciting performance, the game’s most valuable player. But the Jets seemed to agree with Snell that he was the most deserving of that honor. The team handed him the keys to a Cadillac in the team colors: green and white.
Ash Wu contributed reporting.
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