Neil Snow
Encyclopedia
Neil Worthington Snow gained renown as an all-around athlete at the University of Michigan
from 1898–1902, where he competed in American football
, baseball, track and field, and tennis. He was an All-American player in 1901, and was the Most Valuable player in the 1902 Rose Bowl
, where he scored five touchdowns. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1960.
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. Snow was also the captain of the 1900 team, but his fame grew as a result of his role on the 1901 team
, considered by some the greatest Michigan football team of all time. In Fielding H. Yost's first year as coach, Michigan finished 11–0, did not allow a single point to be scored by an opposing team, and outscored its opponents 550–0. The 1901 Wolverines became known as the "point-a-minute" team, as their offensive production resulted in an average of one point being scored every minute. The 1901 team was invited to play in the first Rose Bowl game on January 1, 1902, a 49–0 win over Stanford. Snow scored five touchdowns in the 1902 Rose Bowl
, as follows:
Snow's five touchdowns and 25 points (touchdowns counted for five points) in the 1902 Rose Bowl is still the all-time Rose Bowl record. Snow was named the Most Valuable Player of the game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively. Snow was also named an All-American by Caspar Whitney
in the December 1901 issue of Collier's magazine -- the only Western player named to the All-American team for 1901 and only the second player in Michigan history (William Cunningham
was the first) to receive the honor. Whitney wrote: "To be fast, to break interference, and to be wise about the time of going in, make up the requisites of an end rusher, and all of these Snow possessed in a marked degree."
At the conclusion of his collegiate athletic career, Snow reportedly "had all the makings of a great player" and was "besieged with offers" from professional baseball clubs, but had other plans, and "thus a star was lost from baseball." Horace Fogel
of the New York Giants
tried to entice Snow to play baseball for the National League team, asking Snow to name his price. Fogel's wire to Snow reportedly read, "What are your terms to play with New York," to which Snow replied tersely, "Am not on the market." Snow's father, Frank E. Snow, told a reporter at the time that, while his son had received "many fine offers" to play professional baseball, he would prefer his son "adopt something else as a means of making a livelihood."
Snow's commitments to multiple sports placed a strain on his time. As a senior in 1902, Snow excelled in the shot put. Seeking to focus on the shot put, Snow resigned the captaincy of the baseball team in February 1902. At the time, Snow told a reporter:
. Newspaper accounts indicate that Neil Snow hurried to his brother's bedside at St. Margaret's hospital in Hammond.
Snow's principal career after college was with the Detroit Drill Twist Company, where he became the company's treasurer, general manager, and eventually its president. Snow continued to remain involved in sports and was a popular choice as an official for football games for the Eastern and Western schools. One writer noted: "The larger colleges in the East had come to realize with what great efficiency Neil Snow acted as an official and his services were eagerly sought."
Snow's sudden death at age 34 was seen as a cautionary tale of "the great over-do it age." He was cited as proof that endless competition puts undue strain on the heart and nerves, with one article noting: "Snow was big and powerful and always in fine condition. Yet after a hard squash game he died in less than five minutes, where 20 minutes before he had seemed to be in perfect health."
wrote the following about Snow:
The noted football expert Walter Camp
said of Snow: "No college ever developed a better all-around athlete."
He has been called "the greatest all-round athlete ever graduated from the University of Michigan" and was named a member of Fielding H. Yost's "all-time" Michigan team at the right end position.
In 1907, The Washington Post
named Snow one of the three greatest football players to have played in the West, along with Walter Eckersall
and Willie Heston
. The Post opined that Snow was an end quite worthy to rank with the great ends of the East and that he "was just the kind of man who would have been suited to the advanced requirements of the new game and its additional demand for alertness, in an end."
In 1916, the Oakland Tribune published an article ranking Snow as one of North America's greatest all-around athletes, naming Snow, Elmer Oliphant
and Christy Mathewson
as the runners-up to Jim Thorpe
. The Tribune wrote of Snow:
Sports writer Grantland Rice
often wrote about Snow, ranking him as one of the three greatest all-around athletes ever turned out in college sport along with Jim Thorpe
and Elmer Oliphant
. Rice called Snow "a football marvel, hurdler, jumper and shot putter and one of the best ball players Michigan ever knew."
In 1960, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
.
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
from 1898–1902, where he competed in American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, baseball, track and field, and tennis. He was an All-American player in 1901, and was the Most Valuable player in the 1902 Rose Bowl
1902 Rose Bowl
Originally titled the "Tournament East-West football game," what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was first played on January 1, 1902 in Pasadena, California, starting the tradition of New Year's Day bowl games.The inaugural game featured Fielding H...
, where he scored five touchdowns. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 1960.
Biography
Snow was born into a wealthy family in Detroit. 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. 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.Football
Snow played four seasons for the Michigan Wolverines football team (1898–1901) at the end and fullback positions. 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 ChicagoUniversity of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
that inspired Louis Elbel to write The Victors
The Victors
"The Victors" is the fight song of the University of Michigan . It was composed by UM student Louis Elbel in 1898 following the last-minute football victory over the University of Chicago that clinched a league championship...
, 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. Snow was also the captain of the 1900 team, but his fame grew as a result of his role on the 1901 team
1901 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1901 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1901 college football season. In their first year under new head coach Fielding H. Yost, Michigan finished the season undefeated with an 11–0 record, outscored their opponents by the unprecedented total of 550...
, considered by some the greatest Michigan football team of all time. In Fielding H. Yost's first year as coach, Michigan finished 11–0, did not allow a single point to be scored by an opposing team, and outscored its opponents 550–0. The 1901 Wolverines became known as the "point-a-minute" team, as their offensive production resulted in an average of one point being scored every minute. The 1901 team was invited to play in the first Rose Bowl game on January 1, 1902, a 49–0 win over Stanford. Snow scored five touchdowns in the 1902 Rose Bowl
1902 Rose Bowl
Originally titled the "Tournament East-West football game," what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was first played on January 1, 1902 in Pasadena, California, starting the tradition of New Year's Day bowl games.The inaugural game featured Fielding H...
, as follows:
- Five-yard run for a touchdown in the first half for the games first points
- Two-yard run for a touchdown in the second half to extend Michigan's lead to 22–0
- Eight-yard run to extend the Michigan lead to 33–0
- Seventeen-yard run to extend the Michigan lead to 38–0
- Four-yard run to extend the lead to 44–0
Snow's five touchdowns and 25 points (touchdowns counted for five points) in the 1902 Rose Bowl is still the all-time Rose Bowl record. Snow was named the Most Valuable Player of the game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively. Snow was also named an All-American by Caspar Whitney
Caspar Whitney
Caspar William Whitney was an American author, editor, explorer, and war correspondent. He originated the concept of the All-American team in college football in 1889 when he worked for Harper's Magazine....
in the December 1901 issue of Collier's magazine -- the only Western player named to the All-American team for 1901 and only the second player in Michigan history (William Cunningham
William Cunningham (American football)
William Ralph Cunningham was an All-American football center for the University of Michigan Wolverines.Cunningham was born at Volant, Pennsylvania in July 1872...
was the first) to receive the honor. Whitney wrote: "To be fast, to break interference, and to be wise about the time of going in, make up the requisites of an end rusher, and all of these Snow possessed in a marked degree."
Baseball
As a baseball player, Snow was an outfielder and a major contributor to two Western Conference championship teams. He batted over .390 in 1899 and over .320 in 1900. Snow was described as "a man of splendid physique and an especially good batter." His final game as a Wolverine baseball player was a 7–4 win over Cornell, in which Snow was responsible for six runs, including three RBIs on a bases-loaded triple.At the conclusion of his collegiate athletic career, Snow reportedly "had all the makings of a great player" and was "besieged with offers" from professional baseball clubs, but had other plans, and "thus a star was lost from baseball." Horace Fogel
Horace Fogel
Horace Fogel was a Major League Baseball manager. In 1887, Horace was the manager for the Indianapolis Hoosiers. His record was 20-49. In he was the manager for the New York Giants with a record of 18-23....
of the New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
tried to entice Snow to play baseball for the National League team, asking Snow to name his price. Fogel's wire to Snow reportedly read, "What are your terms to play with New York," to which Snow replied tersely, "Am not on the market." Snow's father, Frank E. Snow, told a reporter at the time that, while his son had received "many fine offers" to play professional baseball, he would prefer his son "adopt something else as a means of making a livelihood."
Track and field
Snow also excelled in track and field. In 1902, he won the Western Conference high jump championship.Snow's commitments to multiple sports placed a strain on his time. As a senior in 1902, Snow excelled in the shot put. Seeking to focus on the shot put, Snow resigned the captaincy of the baseball team in February 1902. At the time, Snow told a reporter:
"A captain ought to be on the field during all practice hours, and if I filled the position I would not feel at liberty to leave the diamond to go over and take coaching for a field event. Besides, I have college work that keeps me busy until 5 o'clock three times a week. I will do all I can for the baseball team, however, and there is nothing but good feelings between all the candidates."
Later years
In June 1905, Snow's younger brother broke his neck in an accident in switching sand cars at Hammond, IndianaHammond, Indiana
Hammond is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 80,830 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hammond is located at ....
. Newspaper accounts indicate that Neil Snow hurried to his brother's bedside at St. Margaret's hospital in Hammond.
Snow's principal career after college was with the Detroit Drill Twist Company, where he became the company's treasurer, general manager, and eventually its president. Snow continued to remain involved in sports and was a popular choice as an official for football games for the Eastern and Western schools. One writer noted: "The larger colleges in the East had come to realize with what great efficiency Neil Snow acted as an official and his services were eagerly sought."
Death
Snow died suddenly in January 1914 at age 34. He became ill after a vigorous game of squash at the Detroit Racquet Club and was taken to the doctor's office, where he collapsed. At the time of Snow's death, noted American poet, Edgar A. Guest published the following poem as a tribute to Snow:"The whistle sounds: The game is o'er! We pay tribute now with tears. Instead of smiling eyes and cheers.
Neil Snow has crossed the line once more
Life's scrimmage ends! A manly soul Now passes bravely through the night Undaunted still and Spotless White
Neil Snow has made another goal
The crowds depart. The setting sun Blazes his pathway to the west. The stamp of valor's on his breast.
Neil Snow the Master's M has won."
Snow's sudden death at age 34 was seen as a cautionary tale of "the great over-do it age." He was cited as proof that endless competition puts undue strain on the heart and nerves, with one article noting: "Snow was big and powerful and always in fine condition. Yet after a hard squash game he died in less than five minutes, where 20 minutes before he had seemed to be in perfect health."
Honors and accolades
In the popular 1916 book Football Days: Memories of the Game and of the Men Behind the Ball, William Hanford EdwardsBig Bill Edwards
William Hanford "Big Bill" Edwards was an American football player who played guard at the Princeton University from 1896 to 1899...
wrote the following about Snow:
"The University of Michigan never graduated a man who was more universally loved than Neil Snow. What he did and the way he did it has become a tradition at Michigan. He was idolized by every one who knew him. As a player and captain he set a wonderful example for his men to pattern after. He was a powerful player, possessing such determination and fortitude that he would go through a stone wall if he had to. He was their great all-around athlete; good in football, baseball and track. ...[W]hen I grew to know him, I soon realized how his great, quiet, modest, though wonderful personality, made everybody idolize him. Modesty was his most noticeable characteristic. He was always the last to talk of his own athletic achievements."
The noted football expert Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
said of Snow: "No college ever developed a better all-around athlete."
He has been called "the greatest all-round athlete ever graduated from the University of Michigan" and was named a member of Fielding H. Yost's "all-time" Michigan team at the right end position.
In 1907, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
named Snow one of the three greatest football players to have played in the West, along with Walter Eckersall
Walter Eckersall
Walter "Eckie" Eckersall was an American football player, official, and sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.-Early life:...
and Willie Heston
Willie Heston
William Martin "Willie" Heston was an American football player and coach. He played halfback at San Jose State University and the University of Michigan. Heston was the head football coach for Drake University in 1905 and North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now North...
. The Post opined that Snow was an end quite worthy to rank with the great ends of the East and that he "was just the kind of man who would have been suited to the advanced requirements of the new game and its additional demand for alertness, in an end."
In 1916, the Oakland Tribune published an article ranking Snow as one of North America's greatest all-around athletes, naming Snow, Elmer Oliphant
Elmer Oliphant
Elmer Quillen Oliphant, nicknamed Catchie or Catchy, Olie or Ollie was an American football player.-High school:...
and Christy Mathewson
Christy Mathewson
Christopher "Christy" Mathewson , nicknamed "Big Six", "The Christian Gentleman", or "Matty", was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire career in what is known as the dead-ball era...
as the runners-up to Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
. The Tribune wrote of Snow:
"Undoubtedly one of the greatest was the late Neil Snow of Michigan. Snow stood as one of the great football players of the game. He was an all-American end and a great plunging full back. As a ball player he batted over .390 for Michigan his last two years and received at least three good offers from big league clubs. He was one of the best college first basemen that ever lived. On the track Snow could high jump around six feet; he could put the shot 45 feet; he was a fine hurdler. Taking both quality and quantity, we should say that Snow was the equal at least of any man that has been mentioned."
Sports writer Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice was an early 20th century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.-Biography:...
often wrote about Snow, ranking him as one of the three greatest all-around athletes ever turned out in college sport along with Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
and Elmer Oliphant
Elmer Oliphant
Elmer Quillen Oliphant, nicknamed Catchie or Catchy, Olie or Ollie was an American football player.-High school:...
. Rice called Snow "a football marvel, hurdler, jumper and shot putter and one of the best ball players Michigan ever knew."
In 1960, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
.