When the Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl on Sunday, Sean McVay was the coach; wide receiver Cooper Kupp was the MVP of the game, and defensive end Aaron Donald dominated the line of scrimmage, applying pressure to stifle the Bengals' attack. Matthew Stafford was the game-winning quarterback.
But it was Alabama native Les Snead who was the architect of that team as the Rams general manager.
The 50-year-old Snead was born and raised in Eufaula, where he was an all-state offensive guard for Eufaula High School. He attended Troy University where he switched to tight end, and went on to letter at UAB after playing on the first NCAA-sanctioned Division III Blazer football team. He then transferred to Auburn, where he was a graduate assistant from 1993-94.
In 1995 the expansion team Jacksonville Jaguars hired Snead as a scout, and in 1997 he took the same role with the Atlanta Falcons, who went to the Super Bowl the next season. Atlanta promoted Snead to the director of pro/player personnel in 2009. In 2012 the Rams, then in St. Louis, hired Snead to be general manager.
Snead had to organize the Rams' move from Missouri to California when owner Stan Kroenke decided to return the team to Los Angeles.
Snead drafted Donald, Kupp, and quarterback Jared Goff. He hired McVay as coach after a particularly disappointing season with Jeff Fisher as coach. The team won the NFC West in 2018 and went to the Super Bowl, where they were defeated by the New England Patriots.
In 2020, the Ram went back to the playoffs, but fell short of their ultimate expectations. McVay and Snead then organized a blockbuster trade of Goff and two number one picks with the Detroit Lions for Stafford, the trade which helped propel the Rams to Sunday’s Super Bowl victory in Los Angeles.
Snead does come back to Alabama periodically and recently spoke to the Montgomery Quarterback Club.
“Congratulations to Les Snead, General Manager of the LA Rams for winning the Super Bowl,” said former Montgomery Quarterback Club President and former State Rep. Perry Hooper Jr. “Les is an Auburn graduate and played football for the Auburn Tigers. Les is from Eufaula, Alabama. He was our guest speaker at the Montgomery Quarterback Club. Hopefully, we will get him back next fall.”
Snead and his wife reside in Malibu, California. He has two children.
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