Rams' Jack Snow dies
By Dan Caesar
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Rams radio analyst Jack Snow, who also was a standout wide receiver for the club, died Monday night (Jan. 9, 2006) at Barnes-Jewish hospital of complications from a staph infection.
Snow had been there, in critical condition, since shortly before Christmas.
"He battled his illness with great courage and tenacity," said Steve Savard, the Rams' radio-play-by-play broadcaster for the past six seasons who became close friends with his partner. "He was an inspiration to everyone around him, including his doctors and nurses. Jack's family appreciates all the support and love St. Louis fans showed him during his illness."
Snow, 62, broadcast his last game on Nov. 20. He intended to work the Rams' game Nov. 27, in Houston, but became too ill to go on the air that day. He returned to St. Louis with the team after that game, and immediately was hospitalized. His condition eventually improved and he was able to move to a rehabilitation facility. However, he took a turn for the worse shortly before Christmas and he was readmitted to the hospital and didn't recover.
"It's very painful when a loved one is taken from us," Rams owner Georgia Frontiere said in a statement. "But fortunately we are left with so many exciting and beautiful memories that we shared with Jack on and off the field. ... Jack was a marvelous human being and friend and we will all miss him very much."
Rams equipment manager Todd Hewitt fondly recalled his long association with Snow, whom he had known since 1967. Snow was playing for the Rams then and Hewitt was 9 years old and hanging around the team with his dad, who was the equipment manager.
"Jack kind of always took care of me," Hewitt said. "He always teased me, of course. There were times when I was little, the guys would tie me up and throw me in the shower. My dad would be yelling for me, wanting to know why I wasn't doing my work. Jack and the guys would be quiet and I'd be taped up in the shower."
It was all good natured, and Hewitt returned the friendship recently.
"I had a jersey made up for him, and the whole team signed it," Hewitt said. "They wanted to give it to him after he got home, but they finally took it into the hospital and they said it really perked him up when he saw the players had signed it."
Hewitt recalls that Snow loosened things up in 1973, shortly after the stern Chuck Knox took over as the club's coach. That was Snow's ninth season in the NFL.
"One of Chuck's famous sayings was that, 'I'm going to speak softly so you'll have to listen hard,'" Hewitt said. "That's how he'd start meetings. I remember Jack raising his hand and saying, "Coach, can you speak up? We can't hear you in the back of the room.'"
Snow remained fiercely loyal to the club through the years, to the point he sometimes drew criticism for sticking up for players through lean times.
"Don't take a shot at my ballclub," he said in an interview last year after a flap developed over his role. "The Rams are like my extended family, they're my surrogate boys."
Hewitt said Snow's emotions were genuine.
"Jack loved the Rams and loved the players," Hewitt said.
Snow had double hip replacement surgery last spring, having the operations done simultaneously so he would be ready when training camp began in July. He thought the deterioration of the joints was related to his long football career. Snow recovered and was back in the booth for the first broadcast this season.
Savard said recently that Snow's doctors didn't think the development of the staph infection was connected to those surgeries, although a hip is one of the places the infection eventually hit.
Snow was a standout receiver for the Rams from 1965-75, finishing fifth in the NFL in receptions (51) in 1970 and ninth that season in receiving yardage (859).
Hewitt recalled a play Snow made long ago for the Rams in a game in Baltimore.
"Roman Gabriel was the quarterback, (threw the ball) and Jack left his feet at about the 5 yard line, diving for the ball," Hewitt said. "About three quarters of the ball had gone though (his hands), but he caught it at about the 1. He caught the back end of the ball, and slid into the end zone on a muddy field.
"Jack was a heck of a player."
Snow was drafted out of Notre Dame in 1965 by Minnesota, but the Vikings traded him to the Rams, for whom he played his entire 11-season NFL career.
"He was a great player in our league, and he's really been married to this organization his whole adult life, Rams interim coach Joe Vitt said recently.
Snow was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1967.
"One of the things I remember is that his biggest claim to fame was that he never got caught from behind when he was playing for the Rams," Hewitt said.
Snow was the Rams' receivers coach in 1982 and eventually moved into the club's broadcast booth, and came with the club to St. Louis when it left Los Angeles in 1995.
Snow was an all-city baseball and football player as a high school student in Long Beach, Calif., before heading to Notre Dame. He made the varsity as a sophomore in 1962 as a backup and punter before eventually blossoming as a senior, when he caught 60 passes (second in the NCAA) for 1,114 yards and nine touchdowns and was a first-team All America selection. He finished fifth in balloting for the 1964 Heisman Trophy.
Snow was born Jan. 25, 1943, in Rock Springs, Wyo. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1965 with a degree in psychology.
Among his survivors are daughters Michelle and Stephanie, and a son, J.T. Snow, as well as seven grandchildren. J.T. Snow is a first baseman who signed last week with the Boston Red Sox after playing the last nine seasons for San Francisco.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
By Dan Caesar
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
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Rams radio analyst Jack Snow, who also was a standout wide receiver for the club, died Monday night (Jan. 9, 2006) at Barnes-Jewish hospital of complications from a staph infection.
Snow had been there, in critical condition, since shortly before Christmas.
"He battled his illness with great courage and tenacity," said Steve Savard, the Rams' radio-play-by-play broadcaster for the past six seasons who became close friends with his partner. "He was an inspiration to everyone around him, including his doctors and nurses. Jack's family appreciates all the support and love St. Louis fans showed him during his illness."
Snow, 62, broadcast his last game on Nov. 20. He intended to work the Rams' game Nov. 27, in Houston, but became too ill to go on the air that day. He returned to St. Louis with the team after that game, and immediately was hospitalized. His condition eventually improved and he was able to move to a rehabilitation facility. However, he took a turn for the worse shortly before Christmas and he was readmitted to the hospital and didn't recover.
"It's very painful when a loved one is taken from us," Rams owner Georgia Frontiere said in a statement. "But fortunately we are left with so many exciting and beautiful memories that we shared with Jack on and off the field. ... Jack was a marvelous human being and friend and we will all miss him very much."
Rams equipment manager Todd Hewitt fondly recalled his long association with Snow, whom he had known since 1967. Snow was playing for the Rams then and Hewitt was 9 years old and hanging around the team with his dad, who was the equipment manager.
"Jack kind of always took care of me," Hewitt said. "He always teased me, of course. There were times when I was little, the guys would tie me up and throw me in the shower. My dad would be yelling for me, wanting to know why I wasn't doing my work. Jack and the guys would be quiet and I'd be taped up in the shower."
It was all good natured, and Hewitt returned the friendship recently.
"I had a jersey made up for him, and the whole team signed it," Hewitt said. "They wanted to give it to him after he got home, but they finally took it into the hospital and they said it really perked him up when he saw the players had signed it."
Hewitt recalls that Snow loosened things up in 1973, shortly after the stern Chuck Knox took over as the club's coach. That was Snow's ninth season in the NFL.
"One of Chuck's famous sayings was that, 'I'm going to speak softly so you'll have to listen hard,'" Hewitt said. "That's how he'd start meetings. I remember Jack raising his hand and saying, "Coach, can you speak up? We can't hear you in the back of the room.'"
Snow remained fiercely loyal to the club through the years, to the point he sometimes drew criticism for sticking up for players through lean times.
"Don't take a shot at my ballclub," he said in an interview last year after a flap developed over his role. "The Rams are like my extended family, they're my surrogate boys."
Hewitt said Snow's emotions were genuine.
"Jack loved the Rams and loved the players," Hewitt said.
Snow had double hip replacement surgery last spring, having the operations done simultaneously so he would be ready when training camp began in July. He thought the deterioration of the joints was related to his long football career. Snow recovered and was back in the booth for the first broadcast this season.
Savard said recently that Snow's doctors didn't think the development of the staph infection was connected to those surgeries, although a hip is one of the places the infection eventually hit.
Snow was a standout receiver for the Rams from 1965-75, finishing fifth in the NFL in receptions (51) in 1970 and ninth that season in receiving yardage (859).
Hewitt recalled a play Snow made long ago for the Rams in a game in Baltimore.
"Roman Gabriel was the quarterback, (threw the ball) and Jack left his feet at about the 5 yard line, diving for the ball," Hewitt said. "About three quarters of the ball had gone though (his hands), but he caught it at about the 1. He caught the back end of the ball, and slid into the end zone on a muddy field.
"Jack was a heck of a player."
Snow was drafted out of Notre Dame in 1965 by Minnesota, but the Vikings traded him to the Rams, for whom he played his entire 11-season NFL career.
"He was a great player in our league, and he's really been married to this organization his whole adult life, Rams interim coach Joe Vitt said recently.
Snow was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1967.
"One of the things I remember is that his biggest claim to fame was that he never got caught from behind when he was playing for the Rams," Hewitt said.
Snow was the Rams' receivers coach in 1982 and eventually moved into the club's broadcast booth, and came with the club to St. Louis when it left Los Angeles in 1995.
Snow was an all-city baseball and football player as a high school student in Long Beach, Calif., before heading to Notre Dame. He made the varsity as a sophomore in 1962 as a backup and punter before eventually blossoming as a senior, when he caught 60 passes (second in the NCAA) for 1,114 yards and nine touchdowns and was a first-team All America selection. He finished fifth in balloting for the 1964 Heisman Trophy.
Snow was born Jan. 25, 1943, in Rock Springs, Wyo. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1965 with a degree in psychology.
Among his survivors are daughters Michelle and Stephanie, and a son, J.T. Snow, as well as seven grandchildren. J.T. Snow is a first baseman who signed last week with the Boston Red Sox after playing the last nine seasons for San Francisco.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
