Snead hungers to rebuild reputation
Receiver gets chance to show Saints what they’re missing after transition
Willie Snead IV works the Ravens’ locker room as adroitly as he does the harrowing combat zone in the middle of an NFL field.
Like so many of the things he knows about football, he learned this from his father, who played with Emmitt Smith at the University of Florida. Appreciate what each man brings to the team, Willie Snead III told his son, and make sure you add to the picture.
One day, you’ll see Snead alight next to fellow wide receiver Michael Crabtree. The next, he might gab with tight end Nick Boyle about their shared love of dogs. His bushy mane of two-toned hair, which falls to his shoulders if he doesn’t tie it back, makes him easy to spot.
This was the Willie Snead who vanished for much of 2017 as a drunk-driving suspension and a hamstring injury soured his third season with the New Orleans Saints, the team that gave him his first significant playing time coming out of Ball State.
Snead is naturally hard on himself, so the wounds of that lost year — some self-inflicted, some an affront to his athletic pride — cut deep.
“It was definitely hard,” he said Wednesday, as he looked ahead to the Ravens’ Sunday matchup with the Saints. “It was definitely a transition as well, because the first two years, I was involved, Wide receiver Willie Snead IV, left, led the Ravens with seven receptions for 60 yards in Sunday’s victory over the Titans.