By Larry Vaught

Former UK Star Running Back Benny Snell Gives Back to YMCA

Posted: April 14, 2023
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Dan Koett Photos

It was hard for Dan Koett to tell who was having the most fun Wednesday when former Kentucky all-Southeastern Conference running back visited with students participating in the YMCA of Central Kentucky’s After School Program at Maxwell Elementary School in Lexington.

Snell set a UK career rushing record in 2018 when he helped UK win 10 games, including the Citrus Bowl. He’s now a free agent but has played the last four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“It was a lot of fun watching him with the kids,” said Koett. “I really could not tell who had more fun, him or the kids. He signed every single autograph and just kept playing with the kids.

“Kids gravitate to him. He has a huge personality. It was a very diverse group of kids and they were all having fun and Benny was right tin the middle of it all.”

Snell’s childhood friend, Will Maynus, is the regional youth development director at the YMCA of Central Kentucky. Like Snell, he attended UK. The two of them both grew up spending time at the YMCA in Columbus, Ohio.

Snell was there to match the $3,500 raised by the YMCA kids in the Youth Penny Wars that is part of the YMCA’s annual Impact Campaign.

“This is my second home,” Snell told the youngsters about Lexington. “I am here often.”

He also told them he would be back every year he could to help participate in this fundraiser and also interact with the kids.

“You really forget he is a professional athlete when you watch him interacting with the kids. He just gets the responsibility to give back,” said Koett, a public relations specialist. “I just hope the Steelers sign him now because I am also a Steelers fan.”