Snowden’s broken ankle means end of ‘breathtaking’ impact
When Charles Snowden arrived in 2017 at Virginia, coach Bronco Mendenhall welcomed a linebacker “as tall and thin as a basketball player.” More than three years later, Mendenhall sees a guy who’s NFL-ready, though his college career likely ended Saturday sooner than anticipated.
Hobbling out of Scott Stadium on crutches with his broken right ankle tightly wrapped after U.Va.’s 55-15 win against Abilene
Christian, Snowden suddenly had to deal with the reality that his senior season was over. He’s already had surgery to repair the injury, and his mom is in Charlottesville to help take care of him as he begins a recovery that’ll take about six months.
Mendenhall already has posi
tioned seniors Matt Gahm and Elliott Brown to fill in at Snowden’s outside linebacker spot in U.Va.’s battered defense, but there’s no replacing all that Snowden has meant to Mendenhall’s program.
“I don’t know if I can articulate it,” Mendenhall said of one of his team’s captains. “Charles’ influence on our program has been breathtaking in terms of maturity and growth, and, in a lot of ways, his own maturity and growth is matched out of the program. ... It’s hard to separate Charles Snowden and U.Va. football. They seem to be one and the same, and I’m not sure if there could be a better exemplar than him of what I would like our program to be.”
Snowden is just the latest on a laundry list of injuries and absences that have plagued U.Va. (4-4, 3-4 ACC), which plays at Florida State at 8 p.m. Saturday, on the defensive side of the ball.
Senior starting defensive end Richard Burney, a Hickory High alum, played in the first five games before going out for the season with an injury. At the starting safety positions, Joey Blount has missed five games with an injury, and Brenton Nelson has missed four.
Starting defensive tackle Jowon Briggs opted out for the rest of the season last week and plans to transfer. Defensive tackle Aaron Famui, who started five games last season, opted out before the season.
Since this season isn’t counting against the eligibility clock for players — an NCAA response to the coronavirus pandemic — another college season is technically possible for seniors like Snowden and Burney, but Snowden will likely be a draft target for NFL teams next year if his recovery progresses at an expected rate.
“There’s the initial reaction, and then there’s the onset of what it really means in terms of recovery, in terms of future, in terms of other decisions that will have to be made, so he’s kind of in that process right now,” Mendenhall said regarding how Snowden is handling his injury.
“I think part sad, part grief, part remorseful, part frustrated. I don’t know. You could probably substitute about every adjective that you could imagine in there. I would just say I’m thankful, just for all that he’s contributed to this point. I don’t think you can give more, so I’m grateful.”