Neil Snow
Snow in 1900 (from Michigan football team photograph)
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| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
November 10, 1879 Detroit, Michigan |
| Died | January 22, 1914 (aged 34) Detroit, Michigan |
| Playing career | |
| 1898–1901 | Michigan |
| Position(s) | End, fullback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1902 | Nashville |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| Rose Bowl Player of the Game (1902) | |
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College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1960 (profile) |
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Neil Worthington Snow (November 10, 1879 – January 22, 1914) was an American athlete. He competed in American football, baseball, and track and field at the University of Michigan from 1898 to 1902. He was selected as a first-team All-American football player in 1901 and as the most valuable player in the 1902 Rose Bowl, a game in which he scored five touchdowns. He was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1960.
Snow was born into a wealthy family in Detroit, and attended local Central High School. While in high school, Snow was an exceptional bowler, competing in the Peninsular and Junior leagues and leading his league in average one years. He was also a boxer of "considerable prowess".
At the University of Michigan, Snow was the captain of the football, baseball and track teams, and had the distinction of winning more varsity letters than any other man — four in baseball, four in football and three in track. He stood 5 feet 8 inches and weighed 190 pounds. At least one 1905 newspaper account reported that he also lettered in tennis. Various reports differ as to whether he received 10, 11, or 12 varsity letters at Michigan.
While at Michigan, Snow was also a mandolin player of "great talent," and was a member of the mandolin, guitar and banjo club. He was also regarded as "one of the best students in the university." In January 1902, the Detroit Free Press opined: "There is no student in the country who is more entitled to the distinction of being an ideal collegian than Neil Snow."
Snow played four seasons for the Michigan Wolverines football team from 1898 to 1901. As a freshman, he started all ten games at the end position. The 1898 team went 10–0 and won Michigan's first Western Conference football championship, finishing the season with a 12–11 win over the University of Chicago that inspired Louis Elbel to write The Victors, Michigan's fight song. Elbel's lyric, "Champions of the West", refers to Michigan's having won the Western Conference championship for the first time in the school's history.
In 1899, Snow started seven games at right end. In December 1899, he was elected by his teammates to be captain of Michigan's 1900 football team.
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