Jevan Snead Leaving Ole Miss For NFL

NFL News - January 7th, 2010 - Written by John

With a marketing degree already in hand, Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead has opted to leave school behind and enter the upcoming NFL Draft.

"After much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to forgo my final year at Ole Miss and enter the NFL draft," Snead said, thanking the school's coaches, fans and his teammates. "In the end, I had to do what is best for me and my family. Having finished my degree, I look forward to the challenge and hard work that comes with pursuing my dream of playing quarterback in the NFL."

Snead was projected to have a career-year at Ole Miss in 2009 after guiding the team to a Cotton Bowl win over Texas Tech in '08, which led to a top-10 ranking in the preseason AP poll. But he floundered in the middle of the year, losing three of six games in the middle of the season, and threw as many interceptions as touchdowns.

For the record, he finished his junior year with 2,632 and 20 scores, and did leave behind the best two-year run of any Rebel quarterback in almost 50 years. Beating Oklahoma State in this year's Cotton Bowl gave Ole Miss it's first back-to-back January bowl wins since 1960-61. But it was a far cry from competing for the SEC championship, which many pundits predicted at the beginning of the year, and Snead had six multiple-interception games.

Snead was at the center of the controversy in which South Carolina's Steve Spurrier was the only coach to not pick Tim Tebow as his preseason first-team All-SEC quarterback. After catching grief over picking Snead instead, Spurrier then said he had made a mistake and quickly changed his pick to Tebow.

Rebel coach Houston Nutt told ESPN that he tried to talk Snead into staying for another year, but understood his decision to move forward in the NFL.

"I'm sure the fact that he has already finished his degree played a role in his decision, and I do respect his decision," Nutt said. "He is young man of great character and Jevan will always be a member of the Ole Miss family."