Benny Snell Jr. letter outlines underdog mentality fueling Kentucky’s special season
By Keith Farner
Published:
One of the faces of Kentucky’s improbable football season sees himself as an underdog just like the Wildcats’ football program is often labeled across the SEC.
Benny Snell, Jr., a native of the Columbus, Ohio area, documented in a piece written in The Players Tribune how he was overlooked as a high school recruit, and how UK has pulled off a historic season with upsets and the recent last-second win. One-loss Kentucky, ranked No. 9 in the first College Football Playoff rankings, will play for the SEC East title on Saturday against visiting and fellow one-loss Georgia, which is ranked No. 6.
Snell wasn’t recruited heavily by any team in the Big 10, despite parents giving him that nickname after big games, and despite it feeling like destiny to him, the calls never came.
“Everyone knows I play with a chip on my shoulder,” Snell wrote. “Why? Because most of the traditional powerhouse schools didn’t recruit me. Or if they did, it was kind of just like a little look or whatever. Maybe I got sent some form letter one time and then nada. I wasn’t good enough for them. So now it’s like: Oh yeah? Not interested in me? I’m not quick enough? Don’t have enough stars next to my name to be worth your time? Well here … enjoy this three-star stiff-arm to your damn chest.”
Snell explained that he came to Kentucky in part because of the men’s basketball program’s historic success.
“It’s about the football team rising up to that same level of consistent excellence,” he said. “I want Kentucky to be known as a basketball Mecca and a football powerhouse.”
He admitted that the Georgia game is big, but he stopped short of making a guarantee.
“I won’t make any predictions or promises,” he wrote. That’s not what I’m about. But here’s what I can tell you about what will go down in Lexington on Saturday. What you’re going to see out there on the field against Georgia is a true brotherhood, giving it all we got and laying it out on the field.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
