Spencer Schnell (born December 7, 1994) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Illinois State.

Early life

Schnell was born and grew up in

Elkhart, Indiana Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 53,923 at the 2020 census. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana. It is the most populous city in the Elkhart–Goshen metropolitan area, which in tu ...

, and attended Elkhart Central High School. 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.

College career

Schnell began his collegiate career at

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, 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 Illinois State University (ISU) is a public research university in Normal, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University and is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teachin ...

. 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. 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 The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the National Collegiate A ...

(MVFC) All-Newcomer team. The following season, he was named second-team All-MVFC after leading the team with 51 receptions for 679 yards and four touchdowns. 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.

Professional career

Schnell signed with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

on May 11, 2019. 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. Schnell made his NFL debut on December 21, 2019, against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

, returning two punts for three yards. On July 31, 2020, Schnell was waived by the Buccaneers. Schnell visited the Buccaneers on August 23, 2020, and was re-signed by the team on August 25, 2020. He was waived on September 5, 2020.

Personal

Schnell's father, Dave Schnell, was the starting quarterback at

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, was an All-Big Ten selection and inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame, and later played quarterback for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. Dave Schnell died of leukemia at the age of 44 when Spencer was 16 years old.

References

External links

Illinois State Redbirds bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schnell, Spencer 1994 births Living people American football wide receivers Illinois State Redbirds football players Sportspeople from Elkhart, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana Tampa Bay Buccaneers players