Willie Lee Snead IV (born October 17, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2014 and has been a member of the New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, and Las Vegas Raiders. He played college football at Ball State.
High school career
Snead played his freshman year at Glade Central High School in Belle Glade, Florida. The Snead family then moved to Michigan where his father, Willie Snead III, had taken the head coaching job at Holland Christian High School in Holland, Michigan. Holland Christian went 14–0 in 2008 winning the state championship. Snead, as a sophomore, was one of the top receivers on the team with 35 receptions, 543 receiving yards, and 5 touchdowns.
Another move to Muskegon took Snead to Muskegon Heights High School where he would play his final two years of high school football. His senior year, Snead was named Michigan Division 5–6 Player of the Year by the Associated Press. At Muskegon Heights, Snead played quarterback and in his senior year he threw for 2,200 passing yards with 13 touchdowns and one interception. He rushed for an additional 1,083 yards and nine touchdowns. Snead also played defense as a linebacker and safety with one interception and 76 tackles.
College career
2011 season
Snead played in eleven games for the Ball State Cardinals in 2011. In his first start, Snead recorded 180 receiving yards, which is the 11th-best for a single game in Ball State history, and a touchdown against Army. His first career reception came at South Florida and his first career touchdown catch came against Buffalo. Ball State finished the season 6–6 with another win over Army 48–21 and notable losses to #22 South Florida and #2 Oklahoma. Snead finished his freshman season with 327 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.
2012 season
In the 2012 season, Snead started in 12 games and played in all 13 games. At the end of the 2012 season, Snead was tied for third on Ball State's single season receptions and third for single season receiving yards. In his sophomore season, Snead ended the year 25th in the nation on receiving yards per game averaging 88 yards per game. He finished the season with 89 receptions, 1,148 receiving yards, and nine receiving touchdowns. The nine receiving touchdowns ranked sixth in a single season in school history.
The Ball State Cardinals finished the 2012 season 9–3 with important wins over #25 Toledo 34–27, the then Big East’s South Florida 31–27 and, for a second year in a row, the Big Ten’s Indiana Hoosiers 41–39. The three regular season losses came to the #12 Clemson Tigers, Kent State, and Northern Illinois. Both Kent State and Northern Illinois went on to be ranked in the Top 25. Snead started for Ball State in the 2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl game in St. Petersburg, Florida where they were defeated by the Central Florida Knights 38–17.
2013 season
Snead helped quarterback Keith Wenning and head coach Pete Lembo lead the Cardinals to another successful season, finishing bowl eligible for the third consecutive year with a 10–3 record. Snead had 100+ receiving yards in nine games, a school record, and tied with Vanderbilt's Jordan Matthews for the most such games that year. He finished the season with 106 receptions for 1,516 yards and 15 touchdowns, setting the Ball State single-season receiving record in all three categories. Those totals also ranked him tied for seventh, third, and tied for third respectively among all college football players that season.
Snead bypassed his senior season to enter the 2014 NFL Draft.
College statistics
Snead ranks second in Ball State history with 2,991 receiving yards (to Dante Ridgeway's 3,030) and 26 receiving touchdowns (to Darius Hill's 31), and third in receptions with 223. He and Ridgeway are the only two players in Ball State history to have two 1,000 yard receiving seasons, and his 13 games with 100+ yards receiving is a school record.
Awards
Selected as a Biletnikoff Award Semifinalist in 2013
2012 All-MAC First Team Offense
2013 All-MAC First Team Offense
2013 Honorable Mention WR All-American by Sports Illustrated
Professional career
Cleveland Browns
Snead went undrafted during the 2014 NFL Draft. On May 10, 2014, the Cleveland Browns signed Snead to a three-year, $1.54 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $5,000.