Kansas City Chiefs CB L'Jarius Sneed embraces doubt because overcoming it has been the story of his life
Asked about what his younger self would think about him now, Kansas City Chiefs CB L'Jarius Sneed didn't hesitate to answer."He'd be so proud of me after all that I faced, the challenges," Sneed said. What challenges are those you ask? A legacy that few in his family and hometown have managed to escape, where […]
Asked about what his younger self would think about him now, Kansas City Chiefs CB L'Jarius Sneed didn't hesitate to answer.
"He'd be so proud of me after all that I faced, the challenges," Sneed said.
What challenges are those you ask? A legacy that few in his family and hometown have managed to escape, where arrests, murders, drug charges, and a life of crime are all too common. He was never expected to be here, appearing in his fourth career Super Bowl in Super Bowl LVIII.
Even as a former fourth-round draft pick in the 2020 NFL draft, none of what he's accomplished on the football field was a given for Sneed.
"I've been an underdog my whole life," Sneed said ahead of Super Bowl LVIII. "I embrace it. I love it. It's what has made me who I am."
Heading into the tilt with the San Francisco 49ers, an unquestioned leader of the Chiefs' defense is still embracing the underdog role.
In a year where he didn't allow a single touchdown in the regular season, and locked down a laundry list of the NFL's best receivers, Sneed saw no recognition for his play. He wasn't voted to the Pro Bowl. He wasn't selected as a First-Team All-Pro. He didn't even receive a single vote for NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors.
It rolls off him like water off of a duck's back. He takes it all in stride.
"More work to do," he says.
Chiefs players know the truth about L'Jarius Sneed
While Sneed hasn't earned the recognition he deserves in the public eye, in the building he's treated with the utmost respect. His defensive teammates adore him for his play on the field, and his offensive teammates hate having to face him in practice.
"He's a bad man in every aspect of the game," Chiefs S Deon Bush said of Sneed, via This Is Football's Kevin Clark. "When it comes to being physical, you will not see another corner be as physical as him, that can cover like him, that's a leader like him. He's the best corner in the NFL right now and I don't say that in a biased way."
"He's just consistent," one Chiefs defender said. "He's the same guy at practice every day."
For players like Bush, the work he puts in on the practice field is something to marvel at. It's something that inspires young players in the defense to emulate his style and work ethic.
"He's locked in," Bush continued. "He practices the hardest I've ever seen. In the NFL, you know high-caliber guys (don't work as hard). He's blue-collar. He brings his lunch pail to work every day and he comes to work."
So what helps drive that work ethic and on-field play? He has defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to thank for giving him that mentality and drive to succeed in Kansas City.
It all comes back to a mentality engrained by Steve Spagnuolo
When Steve Spagnuolo started allowing Sneed to travel with No. 1 wide receivers, it was a departure from the norm. He typically would leave his cornerbacks static, but with two versatile pieces in Trent McDuffie and Sneed, he pivoted.
"He loves a challenge," Spagnuolo said of Sneed back in October. "He wants to go against their very best. That’s why we do it. When you have a guy like that, that you have confidence you can put him on their best guy. I think the other 10 guys rally around it. They see it."
Seeing what Sneed has accomplished against those top receivers is certainly a motivator. How they reacted to his physical snap against Tyreek Hill in the AFC Wild Card game gave them some juice, for sure. However, at the end of the day, it all comes back to Spags.
"Spags puts me in the right position and also mentality," Sneed explained.
What is that mentality, though?
"Don't let anybody catch the ball on you and if they do, move on to the next play," he said.
Sneed employed that mentality artfully throughout the playoffs, shutting down wide receivers such as Tyreek Hill, Zay Flowers, and Stefon Diggs en route to the Super Bowl. He has prior success against the two players he'll be facing today. Check out these numbers courtesy of NFL Network's James Palmer.
"Week-by-week," Sneed said. "Whoever it is, just line them up in front of me and I'm going to go to work. The next-play mentality. I'm going to get mine and he's going to get his. We're both in the NFL."
Sneed won't win every snap, as few ever do in the NFL. It's his willingness to get back up again once he's been doubted that separates him from the rest. After all, that has been the story defining his entire life.
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