Sneed's leadership, focus propel Rattlers to 7th title
Former Horizon HS standout on top of IFL mountain after coming home
Arizona Rattlers quarterback Dalton Sneed, center, celebrates with teammates on Saturday, Aug. 17 after the Rattlers beat Massachusetts 53-16 to win the Indoor Football League championship. (Indoor Football League/Zak Krill)
Rattlers QB Dalton Sneed rolls out against Massachusetts on Saturday, Aug. 17 in the IFL title game. The Rattlers won 53-16 to secure the franchise's 7th championship. (Indoor Football League/Zak Krill)
HENDERSON, Nev. — For the last few weeks, Arizona Rattlers quarterback Dalton Sneed has blocked out all the distractions.
He's been laser-focused on just one thing.
First, Sneed led his team on a final minute, game-winning drive in an "instant classic" Round 1 playoff game at Vegas. He called his own number on 4th-and-goal at the 1 yard line and scored on an outside run on the final play of the game.
Then, he thrilled a huge home crowd with 5 total TDs as Arizona booked their ticket to Vegas by throttling San Diego at Desert Diamond Arena.
Now, he's led Arizona's indoor football franchise back to the promised land.
"This is the exact reason I came to the Rattlers," Sneed said as confetti rained down from the rafters.
Seven years removed since their last title, Sneed was responsible for 3 touchdowns and didn't commit a turnover as the Rattlers humbled the Massachusetts Pirates 53-16 on Saturday to win the 2024 Indoor Football League National Championship.
"It took a full team effort," Sneed said. "We created a brotherhood with this team and everyone accepted their role, whatever that may be. We put in the work and it paid off for us."
Sneed's head coach concurred, adding that the quarterback's intangibles were a strong contributing factor to the Rattlers' 2024 success.
"Dalton is a such a strong leader on and off the field and it showed," Rattlers Head Coach Kevin Guy said. "He's been focused in for a while."
Even as teammates celebrated the conference title win on the floor in Glendale on Aug. 5, Sneed remained focused on the goal.
"The job isn't finished," he repeatedly uttered the past few weeks.
But after winning the IFL title by the largest margin (37 points) in the league's 16-year history, the job is most definitely finished.
Sneed has had tons of recent success inside Lee's Family Forum just outside Las Vegas. But that wasn't always the case. After starring at Horizon High School in Scottsdale and playing college ball at UNLV and Montana, Sneed was ready to take his game to the next level as a member of the IFL's Vegas Knight Hawks.
"It all started with that first season. I thought it was going to be my pro debut," Sneed recalled. "And then getting cut two weeks later, it lit a huge fire under me.
"To be honest, I didn't think I would find myself here two years later with back-to-back championships but here we are."
Despite missing extended time twice this past season, Sneed still accounted for more than 60 total touchdowns and provided invaluable guidance to his teammates.
"Football is full of ups and downs, whether it be wins and losses or injuries," said Sneed. "I battled through that but once I was able to get back and get in stride with the guys, we got rolling and it feels amazing to win a title with them."
In the offseason, Guy made the decision to move on at quarterback after multiple heartbreaking endings to the last few Rattlers seasons. Saturday's result was proof positive he made the correct call.
"Dalton's leadership was unbelievable," Guy said. "He stepped right in and did the job once he got totally healthy. It's safe to say we made the right move bringing him to Arizona.
"You gotta remember Dalton was going for a personal repeat," Guy added, referring to Sneed's 2023 title win with Bay Area. "You have to make sure you don't get complacent in that situation and that was never an issue."
The quarterback also gave kudos to his head coach.
"When you have Kevin Guy game planning against opposing defenses, that's a quarterback's dream," Sneed said. "Hats off to him."
Surrounded by family and friends who traveled from all parts of the country to see him play on Saturday, Sneed was on Cloud 9 after the title win.
"I have too many supporters to count and I don't say that in a bragging way, I say it humbly," explained Sneed. "I've got the #1 support system here and honestly a lot of my success comes from them."
After a third defensive stop of the first half, Rattlers QB @daltonsneed runs untouched for a 10-yard score. Evitts PAT. Wow.
I have edited and written about almost everything in my 20-year journalism career, but I have a strong passion for sports since my father was a teacher and coach when I was young.
My job has allowed me to meet many influential people, including Hillary Clinton, Al Gore (I have a brief, on-camera part in his second movie), George Strait, Matthew McConaughey and several world-class athletes.
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