Somerset Co., PA (WJAC) — With the college football season coming to a close, 6 News spoke with one local athlete who is ready to take his football journey to the next level.
Dawson Snyder spent his high school career scoring touchdowns at Shade-Central City's field.
Now, the Saint Francis wideout has declared for the NFL Draft.
Dawson Snyder’s parents said sports were a big part of his life, but they never imagined it would be football taking him this far.
"Well, he's always been very athletic. I guess we never knew that football would be the sport that would pick him. We thought it would be basketball,” his mother Leigh said.
Football became Snyder’s sport and at the end of his high school career, he chose to continue with football, staying close to home at Saint Francis.
There was still a long path before he would lead the Northeast Conference in receiving.
Snyder joined the team as a walk on his first year.
"It was tough the first year. I didn't play at all. So, I just watched all my teammates. It was really hard for me. Parents just stuck with me. Kept telling me to just stick with it and it kept working. Eventually I earned a scholarship during COVID and that’s when I feel like everything came into place and the rest of the story wrote itself."
Snyder knows the hard work isn’t finished, but he said there are some obstacles to becoming a professional that he didn't expect.
"Finding an agent, I thought it would be the easy part, but that's one of the tougher parts. You got to get the agentthey have all the connections."
Snyder's dad wants prospective NFL teams to know that he's not just a playmaker, but a winner.
"He always has done, whether it's basketball or football, everything to win. The teams first. You watch him play and he blocks like Hines Ward. I think he does, I’m a little biased though. If that's what it takes to win, that's what he's going to do,” his father Robert said.
Snyder is looking for a Pro Day to show his skills to NFL coaches and his dad said whoever gives him that chance will not be disappointed.
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