The Jets need to make a concerted effort to get this guy back in the fold - maybe enlist the help of Namath or somebody else to reach out. No sense in waiting until he passes away to honor him.
Snell said he has a problem with the Jets because Leon Hess didn't give him a job reference. Sounds rather petty on his part... especially since he was placed in the Ring of Honor... and Leon Hess is long gone.
It is, but he's a proud man. I think there was another way in which the Jets also slighted him. That's why he has nothing to do with the team now. It's a shame.
Reading up on it... seems like he took umbrage with every little slight in his life. Werblin gave him a brand new Caddy after SBIII because he thought Snell was the game's MVP. I'm assuming his problem(s) with the Jets were after Sonny Werblin was gone. Fun fact: Matt Snell was drafted by the Jets to be an outside linebacker.
Wow! Sorry to hear that he was that way. Drafted to be a LB. Hmmm well at least he still got to hit people, but got perhaps a lot more glory toting the rock and blocking for Boozer.
It's more than that. Sonny Werblin had told him he'd always have a job with the team but his partners didn't make good on the deal after Werblin was gone. The team also refused to give him a recommendation for a job after he was out of football, as if that would have been a hardship for them. It's not something that would have been a deal breaker for most people but it seems he took it very personally. As you say, Hess and the first ownership group are long gone; I wonder if the Johnson family has ever personally reached out or if all attempted communication was done through underlings.