March 11, 2026
The 1964 AFL Rookie of the Year helped the New York Jets win their first (and only) Super Bowl in 1969.
Matt Snell, who won AFL (American Football League) Rookie of the Year and helped the New York Jets win their first Super Bowl in 1969, has died. He was 84.
The New York Jets announced that Snell, who scored the only touchdown in the franchise’s only Super Bowl victory, had died. The franchise gave no details on the cause of death.
“Matt Snell will forever hold a special place in the history of the New York Jets,” said Jets Chairman Woody Johnson in a written statement. “He was the embodiment of toughness, selflessness, and belief—traits that defined our organization’s proudest moments. His performance in Super Bowl III was nothing short of legendary. Against the odds, Matt set the tone with his physical running, delivering the Jets’ lone touchdown and helping secure one of the most important victories in sports history.”
When the Jets took home the championship trophy in 1969 against the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, he ran 121 yards on 30 carries. Snell helped the upstart AFL team upset the NFL’s might Colts, 16-7, in a game no one expected the Jets to win.
The Jets have yet to return to the Super Bowl in 56 years.
Snell, who grew up on Long Island and attended Ohio State on a football scholarship, played at OU from 1961 to 1963. For the Buckeyes, he rushed for 688 yards and 6 touchdowns and was named the team’s most valuable player in 1963. The Jets drafted him with the No. 3 pick in the 1964 AFL Draft. The other hometown team, the NFL Giants, drafted him at No. 49.
In his first year, Snell won the AFL Rookie of the Year award. During his career, he led the team in rushing for five of the six seasons he played. When he retired from the franchise, he had 4,285 rushing yards (4.4 yards per carry) and 24 touchdowns while pulling in 193 receptions for 1,375 and 7 touchdowns in 84 games.
In two AFL title games and Super Bowl III, Snell rushed 61 times for 253 yards and caught 6 passes for 64 yards. Snell was also a first-team All-AFL player in 1969 and made second-team All-AFL in 1964, 1965, and 1968. Snell ranks fourth on the Jets’ all-time rushing list.
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