“No sugar.”
That is the rallying cry that 25-year veteran offensive line coach Neal Zoumboukos tells his offensive linemen about not getting or wanting the glory of the game.
Just do their job.
Not many have done it better for the Ducks than senior Adam Snyder.
“Me and him have been here a long time,” fellow senior offensive lineman Nick Steitz said. “He has come out and proven himself since he came to Oregon.”
Usually offensive linemen don’t get the limelight, but this season has been a different experience for Snyder and some of the other lineman.
Snyder, along with Steitz and Robin Knebel, found himself on a billboard along Beltline Road.
“I don’t know why they want to see our fat asses on the billboard,” Snyder said. “They want to see guys like D. Will and Kellen. The showcase guys.”
In the Oct. 21 issue of Sports Illustrated on Campus, Snyder found himself on the cover.
Once again the “no sugar” attitude set in.
“I hate being singled out,” Snyder said. “I wish that could have been all five of us.”

He also said Steitz doesn’t let him forget that he was on the cover.
“I’ll never hear the end of it from him,” Snyder said.
But as much as he wants everyone to get the recognition, he has been an exceptional talent for the Ducks since the day he stepped on campus.
“He has such quick feet for a guy his size, and he will open up some holes,” linebacker Jerry Matson said. “He is a great leader and a good role model for these guys.”
Tough start leads to
strong college career
Snyder’s football journey started in the fifth grade as an oversized elementary school kid. Unfortunately, his size forced him to play with kids much older than he.
“I was a fat kid growing up,” Snyder said. “Since I was so big they made me play with eighth graders, and they beat on me pretty good.”
Growing up in Whittier, Calif., Snyder would end up playing football at La Serna High School. He said it wasn’t till his junior year that he realized he could really go places in football.
“I was about 250, 260 pounds, and my coach said I had a future in the game,” Snyder said. “I was pretty small compared to the rest of our lineman.”
Snyder said in his junior year of high school he was surrounded by 300-plus pound linemen.
“By my senior year, I got bigger and started getting attention (from colleges),” Snyder said.
Schools started vying for Snyder, including Oregon, Arizona State, Southern California and Hawaii. He said he was impressed when the coaches from Oregon came down and talked to him and his family.
“I came (to Eugene) first and came home and told my parents that this is where I want to go,” Snyder said. “They told me I needed to look at the other opportunities and not place my eggs all in one basket.”
He then visited Arizona State and was told if he didn’t commit, they weren’t going to offer him a scholarship. He committed, but knew it was a mistake.
“I knew from the start I didn’t want to go there,” Snyder said. “I knew this (Oregon) was the place for me, so I called the guy from Arizona State that I changed my mind and
decided to go to Oregon.”
Heading up North with home still on the mind
Snyder came to Oregon with a heavy heart, as a couple of days before he left a close friend of his was murdered.
“It definitely was a tough time in my life,” Snyder said. “I was trying to deal with losing a friend and living on my own for the first time, while trying to build new friendships, while going to school and playing football.
“I got homesick quite a bit.”
The 6-foot-6, 325-pound Snyder would get over his homesickness during his first year of eligibility as he made his first start against USC during the Ducks’ Fiesta Bowl season of 2001.
“I remember on the first play I was nervous, dizzy and my stomach was turning,” Snyder said.
Snyder attributed his ability to get through the difficult times to veterans like former Duck and current NFL tight end Justin Peele.
“He really helped me out,” Snyder said. “He told me I’ll be fine, and that we’ll talk and communicate throughout the game.”
Playing on a championship team also taught Snyder what he needed to do to be successful.
“We are really the last class to see what it takes to win a Pac-10 Championship,” Snyder said. “Those guys deserved everything they got.”
Battling in trenches
earns Snyder starting job
Snyder would win a starting job his sophomore year and would never give it up.
Of all the games in all his life, he said the Michigan game in 2003 will always stand out the most.
“Michigan was the kind of school you watched growing up,” Snyder said. “To see those helmets on the field was awesome.”
Oregon pulled off the upset over Michigan, and Adam Snyder became the first offensive lineman to win Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week honors since 1995.
But once again the “no sugar” attitude crept back in.
“If all five guys could have gotten that award, five guys would have,” Snyder said. “It definitely was a group effort.”
As a group this season, things haven’t always gone as planned. But despite Oregon’s outcome Saturday, Snyder said football will always be a part of his life and giving it a try on the NFL level is a must.
“You only get this opportunity once in your life,” Snyder said. “You don’t want to look back and think ‘I should have given it a try.’”
Even if there is “no sugar” at the end.

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