EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Former Carson-Newman football wide receiver and kick returner and track All-American Kevin Snead is officially a member of the New York Giants.
Five days after arriving in East Rutherford, N.J. and the Giants' minicamp for a tryout, Snead inked a contract as an undrafted free agent Monday morning.
Snead is the first C-N football alum to align with an NFL team since safety Anthony Baskin joined the Colts minicamp in 2014. He becomes the third Eagle to become affiliated with the Giants, joining Pat Johnson (1988), Joe Fishback (1990). Snead is the 57th Eagle to move on to the NFL.
He becomes the first player to sign an undrafted free agent contract since linebacker Larry Lumpkin signed with the Colts in 2011.
The Richmond, Va.-native brought back 17 kicks this past year for 419 yards. Snead was named the South Atlantic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week after a week two win over Saint Augustine's when he took a kickoff back 90 yards for a touchdown.
He also averaged 30.2 yards per catch as a receiver. He snagged five passes for 151 yards and a score.
However, Snead was an even more prolific track athlete. Following his junior campaign, the USTFCCCAA named him the fastest man in college football, a monitor it gives to the fastest track athlete who is a two-sport athlete also playing college football.
Snead inked his name in the Carson-Newman record book on a number of occasions during his first season at Mossy Creek. The dual-sport athlete broke the program records in the 60, 100 and 200 meter dashes over the course of both the indoor and outdoor campaigns. The sprinter reeled in All-American honors in each event during the seasons.
The junior college transfer competed in the 60 meter dash during the indoor campaign for the Eagles and did so by running a program-best 6.77 seconds in the event at the UCS Invitational on Feb. 20. Snead was C-N's first-ever automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships and finished the event with a 10th-place showing of 6.81 seconds. The successful indoor season also resulted in an All-Southeast Region selection for Snead in the 60 meter dash. He replicated that feat as a senior, turning in an identical time for an 11th place finish.
Snead carried over the good fortunes into the outdoor campaign in the spring of 2016 with two more school records in the 100 and 200 meter dashes to conclude the most successful season a Carson-Newman sprinter has ever had. The speedster stole the record in the 100 meter dash on May 15 with a 10.21 second time at the North Carolina A&T Aggie Last Chance Meet and took home the record in the 200 meter dash on April 22 with a 20.75 second time at the Jesse Owens Track & Field Classic. Snead was a Southeast Region and South Atlantic Conference champion in both events and was also named the Southeast region Track Athlete of the Year.
In the 2016 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Snead placed third in the 200 meter dash and fifth in the 100 meter sprint.