{"id":517053,"date":"2026-03-11T12:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T12:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/517053\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T12:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T12:51:12","slug":"matt-snell-jets-super-bowl-iii-hero-dead-at-84","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/517053\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Snell, Jets Super Bowl III hero, dead at 84"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Jets running back and Super Bowl III star Matt Snell died Tuesday at the age of 84, The Post has confirmed.<\/p>\n

Snell made waves in his debut in 1964, winning AFL Rookie of the Year honors in a season that included a franchise single-game record 180 yards in a win over the Oilers.<\/p>\n

\"NewJets quarterback Joe Namath hands off the football to Matt Snell during Super Bowl III in Miami, Fla., on Jan. 12, 1969. AP<\/p>\n

His star rose further when he spurred an upset win over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, rushing for 121 yards on 30 carries and scoring the team\u2019s only touchdown \u2014 while playing on an injured knee.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatt Snell will forever hold a special place in the history of the New York Jets,\u201d said Jets chairman Woody Johnson said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cHe was the embodiment of toughness, selflessness, and belief \u2014 traits that defined our organization\u2019s proudest moments. His performance in Super Bowl III was nothing short of legendary. Against the odds, Matt set the tone with his physical running, delivering the Jets\u2019 lone touchdown and helping secure one of the most important victories in sports history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HeadshotMatt Snell\u2019s Jets headshot. New York Post<\/p>\n

Further injuries stalled out his career, limiting him to just 12 games over his final three seasons before retiring in 1972 at the age of 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really sad to hear that he passed,\u201d iconic Jets quarterback Namath said, via the team. \u201cMatt was not only a hell of a player \u2014 he was a terrific teammate and without him we wouldn\u2019t have had a chance to win a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things between Snell and Gang Green famously soured in the days after his career ended in a grudge that he continued to carry to the very end.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose people there now don\u2019t owe me anything,\u201d Snell told The Post\u2019s Brian Costello in 2015<\/a> when he was inducted into the franchise\u2019s Ring of Honor. \u201cI\u2019ll be gone soon, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mystery behind that grudge was revealed in Bob Lederer\u2019s 2018 book, \u201cBeyond Broadway Joe: The Super Bowl Team That Changed Football,\u201d in which Snell said then-part-owner Sonny Werblin promised him a place with the team for life, but felt the organization didn\u2019t follow through after Werblin\u2019s stake was bought out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if Sonny ever communicated what he had promised me to the other owners. I know there were people around the organization that were not happy that Sonny and I were friends, and some of them jumped on the opportunity to say bad things about me when Sonny was gone,\u201d Snell said<\/a>. \u201cIt may be that no one in Jets management knew about Sonny\u2019s promises to me, but in 1974, there was a recession and I was in line for a construction job. I asked the Jets for a reference. They told me they didn\u2019t do that for players. They said they couldn\u2019t do it! Can you believe that? I can\u2019t prove it, but I don\u2019t think any of that would have ever happened if Sonny were in charge. That\u2019s why I don\u2019t get along with the organization now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jets \u2014 with a new front office from ownership on down \u2014 attempted to right the wrong with Snell, but to no avail.<\/p>\n

He remains in the record books, however, with his 4,285 career yards ranking fourth in franchise history, with his 24 touchdowns 10th among Gang Green rushers. He added 193 receptions for 1,375 yards and seven scores through the air. For his efforts, he was a three-time Pro Bowler and thrice named an All-Pro, earning First-Team honors in 1969.<\/p>\n

Snell is survived by his wife Sharon, son Beau and daughter Jada, as well as grandson Donte.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Jets running back and Super Bowl III star Matt Snell died Tuesday at the age of 84,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[233769,5702,349,978,10756,99],"class_list":["post-517053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-matt-snell","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-ny-sports-minute","tag-obituaries","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}