Kentucky football fans grew to love running back Benny Snell not just for his production on the field, but for his passion for the game and belief in himself and his teammates.
He was durable, physical and lovable. Teammates believed in him as much as coach Mark Stoops and his staff. Snell became Kentucky’s all-time leading rusher and also put his name into the SEC record book with legendary players like Herschel Walker.
When he decided to leave UK after his junior season for the NFL, Kentucky fans understood. There was really nothing more he could do to impress NFL personnel than what he already had. Consider that Mississippi State had three defensive players picked in the first round of last week’s NFL draft off a defense that gave up just 12 rushing touchdowns all season. Snell had four in one game against them.
Yet because he didn’t wow NFL personnel with his numbers at the NFL combine, Snell’s draft status dipped to where he was projected as a late (rounds six or seven) pick by many analysts and some even had him not being drafted at all.
Pittsburgh took Snell in the fourth round with the 122nd overall pick because it relied on what it saw on the field and didn’t “over analyze” what Snell could or couldn’t do, according to coach Mike Tomlin. That’s what UK recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow, a former NFL tight end, had predicted a smart NFL team would do.
“He’s got a little natural run skill to his game where he sees things,” Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert said. “And he’s really good on the second level and creating and finding space.”
For the Steelers, intangibles count as much or more than a 40-yard dash time at the NFL combine.
“One thing we want to point out about Benny. In today’s college environment where a lot of these kids are skipping their bowl games as they head into their pro careers,” Colbert said. “And that’s a choice that they may make, but when a player like Benny Snell ends up playing for his team in his bowl game, we really like to acknowledge that and give him credit and putting his team and that win over his own priorities.”
Pittsburgh running backs coach Eddie Faulkner said Snell’s “passion and love” for the game made an impression on the team just like it always did with UK fans.
“We were very interested in finding someone who had a passion and just loves football, and that’s Benny Snell. As soon as you turn on his tape, and watch how he plays the game, he mirrors that same amount of passion. He plays physical, plays hard, and quite honestly represents the Steelers brand, as you watch him play as a football player,” Faulkner said.
“I had the opportunity to work with him on his Pro Day (at Kentucky). He was very intense, very intuitive, and it was very important to him. We saw the things that we needed to see that help complement the current roster of running backs, and we’re very excited to have him part of our running back family.”
The Steelers are known as a blue-collar team. They are also a team without a star running back and a team with an aging quarterback that could be even more dependent on the run the next few seasons. Snell convinced the Steelers he was the perfect fit for what they needed.
“You have to love the game, for as much time as we spend perfecting our craft and having that (drive) to be that best player that you can be,” Faulkner said. “You have to love (football). If you don’t, you aren’t going to be able to maximize who you want to be. Good things happen to players like that.
“So that’s important across the board, at any position we are talking about, when you’re putting a team together. But absolutely, that’s a very important factor, and Benny is at the very top of guys who demonstrate that characteristic.”
Tomlin said athleticism obviously is important in the NFL along with other physical traits. But despite some off-field issues the Steelers have had with star players recently, the coach says character still matters.
“We do value the football character element of it, the commitment to the game, the grit,” Tomlin said. “Benny Snell is a guy who really stands out in that regard of a guy who was a central figure in the culture change in terms of what went on at Kentucky, competing and winning and what he was able to do down there.
“We had a great deal of respect not only for his talents but his body of work over the course of three years down there in Kentucky that speaks to that football pedigree, to that grit element.”