Football

2013 Hall of Famer: Percy Snow

PERCY  SNOW
Linebacker
Michigan State
1986-89

· Still ranks second at Michigan State entering the 2013 season with 473 career tackles.
· Becomes the seventh Michigan State player selected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
· Named to school’s Centennial Super Squad by The Lansing State Journal.
· Three-time first team All-Big Ten.

Percy Snow established a legacy at Michigan State as one of the best linebackers in Big Ten Conference history. Big, brooding, dominating, the 6-foot-2, 244-pound Snow could take over the game defensively and make the opponent feel it.

“Percy Snow is certainly deserving of this honor,” said George Perles, his coach at Michigan State. “Offenses simply dreaded playing against him because he didn’t just make the tackle; he damaged people. Percy was the hardest-hitting kid who played at Michigan State in many, many years. He was the nucleus of those great defensive units in the late 1980s.”

From Snow’s sophomore in 1987 through his senior season in 1989, Michigan State led the Big Ten in rushing defense each year.  The Spartans gave up only 69.8 yards rushing a game Snow’s sophomore season and opponents scored just 12.8 points  a game.  Opponents didn’t do much better in either of his junior or senior seasons when they averaged only 14.8 points (118.4 rushing yards) and 13.6 points (95.4 rushing yards) a game.

“This is the highest individual honor, but it certainly isn’t something I could have accomplished alone,” Snow said of being named to the College Football Hall of Fame. “This is the result of teamwork. My teammates and coaches all played a vital role. I am both humble and grateful for this recognition.”

Recruited out of Canton, Ohio, Snow became a star his sophomore season in 1987 when he started all 12 games and played more minutes (320 ½ ) than any other defensive player on the Big Ten champion Michigan State team. The Spartans were No.1  in Big Ten play in rushing defense, total defense and scoring defense in 1987.  His centerpiece game was a 17-tackle (15 unassisted) performance in Michigan State’s 20-17 victory over USC in the Rose Bowl. Snow picked up MVP honors after the victory.

“After we won and came home, and we were greeted at the airport with the fans and the support, I think that right there was it for me,” Snow said. “That was the benchmark acceptance.”

As junior, No. 48 was an even a more relentless tackling machine. Collecting 164 tackles, then a school record, Snow was named a first team All-America by The Sporting News.  Snow topped off his college career with a banner senior season in which he was a consensus All-America and became the first player in history to sweep the Butkus (top linebacker) and Lombardi (best lineman) awards. He still is one of only four players to do so. As a senior, he broke his own Michigan State record with 172 tackles (now ranks second in school history).

Drafted in the first round by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1990, Snow played a total of 40 games combined through from 1990-93 for the Chiefs and Chicago Bears. In 2010, he was inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.
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