Spencer Schnell (born December 7, 1994) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He played college football at Illinois State.
| No. 83 | |||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born: | December 7, 1994 Elkhart, Indiana, U.S. | ||||
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||
| Weight: | 178 lb (81 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school: | Elkhart Central (Indiana) | ||||
| College: | Illinois State | ||||
| Undrafted: | 2019 | ||||
| Career history | |||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||
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Early life
editSchnell was born and grew up in Elkhart, Indiana, and attended Elkhart Central High School.[1] He was named second-team All-Northern Indiana Athletic Conference (NIAC) after catching 58 passes for 984 yards and eight touchdowns in his junior season. As a senior, Schnell caught 101 passes for 1,458-yards and 11 touchdowns with two punts returned for touchdowns and was named first-team All-NIAC and first-team All-Region.[2]
College career
editSchnell began his collegiate career at Ohio, joining the team as a walk-on and redshirting his true freshman season with the expectation that he would receive a scholarship the following year. He left the school after the scholarship was instead given to a fifth year player and transferred to Illinois State University. He spent a year away from football as he established residency in Illinois to pay in-state tuition before joining the Illinois State football team as a walk-on.[3] In his first season playing, Schnell caught 59 passes for 479 yards and a touchdown and returned 22 punts for 228 yards and was named to the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) All-Newcomer team.[4] The following season, he was named second-team All-MVFC after leading the team with 51 receptions for 679 yards and four touchdowns.[5] As a redshirt senior, Schnell led the MVC with 65 receptions and was second in the conference with 872 receiving yards and nine touchdowns and was named first-team All-MVFC.[6]
Professional career
editSchnell signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent on May 11, 2019.[7] Schnell was waived at the end of training camp during final roster cuts. He was re-signed by the Buccaneers to their practice squad on December 16, 2019, and was promoted to the Buccaneers active roster two days later on December 18.[8][9] Schnell made his NFL debut on December 21, 2019, against the Houston Texans, returning two punts for three yards.[10]
On July 31, 2020, Schnell was waived by the Buccaneers.[11] Schnell visited the Buccaneers on August 23, 2020,[12] and was re-signed by the team on August 25, 2020.[13] He was waived on September 5, 2020.[14]
Personal
editSchnell's father, Dave Schnell, was the starting quarterback at Indiana, was an All-Big Ten selection and inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame, and later played quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. Dave Schnell died of leukemia at the age of 44 when Spencer was 16 years old.[15]
References
edit- ^ "Schnell ready to take the next step in his NFL career". The Elkhart Truth. July 17, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
- ^ "Bucs Score Another hit at Wide Receiver Position: Spencer Schnell". BucsLifeMedia.com. August 12, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
- ^ Herder, Sam (April 15, 2019). "FCS: Illinois State's Spencer Schnell Inspired To Accomplish NFL Dream". HEROSports.com. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ "Elkhart's Spencer Schnell named to Missouri Valley All-Newcomer team". The Elkhart Truth. December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ Marra, Michael (November 27, 2017). "Four Redbirds make All-MVC First-team, five others earn MVC accolades". The Vidette. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ "ISU football names Schnell, Mathews as top players". The Pantagraph. November 29, 2018. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ Kanno, Jason (May 11, 2019). "Bucs sign three tryout players". Bucs Wire. USA Today. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ Williams, Charean (December 16, 2019). "Bucs sign receiver Spencer Schnell to the practice squad". Profootballtalk.com. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ Smith, Scott (December 18, 2019). "Bucs Promote Spencer Schnell, Put Mike Evans and Jordan Whitehead on IR". Buccaneers.com. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ Smith, Scott (December 22, 2019). "Early Mistakes Doom Resilient Bucs in Loss to Houston". Buccaneers.com. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
- ^ Smith, Scott (July 31, 2020). "Bucs Waive Three from Camp Roster". Buccaneers.com.
- ^ @AlbertBreer (August 23, 2020). "And here's today's tryout/visit list. Ex-Ohio State QB Cardale Jones and ex-Lions RB Theo Riddick worked out for Vegas" (Tweet). Retrieved August 24, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Bucs Bring WR Spencer Schnell Back". www.buccaneers.com. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
- ^ Smith, Scott (September 5, 2020). "Matt Gay, A.Q. Shipley Among Cuts to Get to 53". Buccaneers.com.
- ^ Barlas, Jonathan (May 2, 2019). "Schnell shock: ISU wideout Spencer Schnell talks invites from Bears, Buccaneers rookie mini-camps". The Vidette. Retrieved April 2, 2020.