View source for Sandy Stephens

{{Short description|American football player (1940–2000)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name            = Sandy Stephens
| image           = 
| image_size      = 
| alt             = 
| caption         = 
| college         = [[Minnesota Golden Gophers football|Minnesota]] (1959–1961)
| number   = 20, 15<ref name="Pfa">{{cite web | url=https://profootballarchives.com/players/s/step03500.html | title=SANDY STEPHENS | publisher=Pro Football Archives | accessdate=25 November 2024}}</ref>
| position = [[Quarterback]]
| high_school      = [[Uniontown Area High School|Uniontown]]
| birth_date      = {{Birth date|1940|9|21|mf=y}}
| birth_place     = [[Uniontown, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date      = {{death date and age|2000|06|06|1940|09|21}}
| death_place     = [[Bloomington, Minnesota]], U.S.
| height_ft       = 6
| height_in       = 0
| weight_lb       = 215
| pastteams       =
* [[Montreal Alouettes]] (1962–1963)
* [[Toronto Argonauts]] (1963)
* [[Kansas City Chiefs]] (1966–1967)*
| highlights      = 
* [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National champion]] (1960)
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1961 College Football All-America Team|1961]])
* [[Chicago Tribune Silver Football]] (1961)
* First-team [[List of All-Big Ten Conference football teams|All-Big Ten]] ([[1961 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1961]])
* [[Minnesota Golden Gophers football#Retired jerseys|Minnesota Golden Gophers Jersey No. 15]] retired
| CollegeHOF   = 2315
}}

'''Sanford Emory Stephens II''' (September 21, 1940 – June 6, 2000) was an American [[gridiron football|football]] player and civic leader.  Stephens was born and raised in the [[Pittsburgh]] area city of [[Uniontown, Pennsylvania]] and is best known for his career as a college football [[quarterback]] for the [[Minnesota Golden Gophers football|Minnesota Golden Gophers]], where he became one of the first African-American quarterbacks in major college football and the first African American to be named an All-American at quarterback. He was a member of [[Alpha Phi Alpha]] fraternity.

==College career==
Stephens was the first black man to play [[quarterback]] at the University of Minnesota and remains the only [[quarterback]] to take the Gophers to the [[Rose Bowl Game|Rose Bowl]] ([[1961 Rose Bowl|1961]] and [[1962 Rose Bowl|1962]]). He was one of the first "National Recruits" for the University of Minnesota, along with [[Judge Dickson]] and [[Bill Munsey]].<ref>"Patrick Reusse – Reusse: U's Sandy Stephens was ahead of his time". ''Star Tribune''. December 6, 2011</ref> Minnesota was one of the few schools at the time willing to field a black quarterback.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Madsen |first1=Rob |last2= |first2= |date=Spring 2023 |title=The Cost of Conservatism: The University of Minnesota's Lofted Ideals and Fallen Football Teams |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/34/article/918698 |journal=Journal of Sport History |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=85–100 |doi= |access-date=}}</ref> The mayor of [[McKeesport, Pennsylvania]], had served in the Navy with [[John Mariucci]], the coach of the Gopher Hockey team.<ref>David Butwin [http://www.minnesotaalumni.org/s/1118/content.aspx?sid=1118&gid=1&pgid=3221&cid=5266&ecid=5266&crid=0&calpgid=3146&calcid=5178 "First Person: Human Tackling Dummy"] ''Minnesota'' Magazine, University of Minnesota Alumni Association, Fall 2011</ref> Mariucci tipped off the University of Minnesota football coach, [[Murray Warmath]] about the players.

In 1960, along with Uniontown (PA) High School teammate Bill Munsey, Stephens led the University of Minnesota to an 8–1 regular season record and the [[NCAA Division I-A national football championship|national championship]]. Minnesota defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 27–10 when both teams were undefeated, one of biggest games in the [[Iowa–Minnesota football rivalry]]. Stephens became the first African-American major-college [[All-American]] quarterback and finished fourth in the [[Heisman Trophy]] balloting.  In 1961, Stephens received the [[Chicago Tribune Silver Football]] as the [[Most Valuable Player]] of the [[Big Ten Conference]].

Sandy Stephens was a member of [[The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C.]] National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll.

==Professional career==
Stephens was a second-round [[National Football League|NFL]] draft choice of the [[Cleveland Browns]] and the fifth overall selection in the [[American Football League|AFL]] draft by the [[New York Titans (football)|New York Titans]].  Both teams said that they wouldn't use him as a quarterback and he never played a down in either league.  The [[Canadian Football League]] (CFL) welcomed him as a quarterback, as the [[Montreal Alouettes]] offered a reported $25,000 signing bonus and a three-year contract at $30,000 per year.<ref>''Canadian Football League Illustrated'', V.1 No.8, p. 31.</ref>

After playing for the Alouettes in 1962, he was cut by Montreal during the 1963 season and was claimed on waivers by the [[Toronto Argonauts]].  Upon leaving the CFL, Stephens tried out as a walk-on with the [[Minnesota Vikings]]. In his CFL career, he threw 22 touchdowns with 38 interceptions on 2,823 yards, while rushing for 487 yards on 88 carries and 8 touchdowns. He also caught 12 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown. He was also used as an occasional kicker, making 12 out of 19 extra points and 4 out of 8 field goals, with three punts for a 20-yard average.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cflapedia.com/Players/s/stephens_sandy.htm|title=Sandy Stephens}}</ref> On September 20, 1964, he was involved in a near fatal accident.<ref>"SANDY STEPHENS CRITICAL AFTER AUTO ACCIDENT". Associated Press, ''The Miami News'' September 21, 1964</ref> The car is which he was riding with [[Ted Dean]], a Minnesota Vikings player, struck a tree in South Minneapolis. Two years after the accident Stephens signed with the [[Kansas City Chiefs]] as a [[fullback (American football)|fullback]]. He was willing to play any of the back positions and continued to dream of playing as a quarterback in the NFL, but to no avail. He ended his active football career in 1968.

==Death==
Stephens was found dead at his [[Bloomington, Minnesota]] apartment by a relative.<ref>[Sandy Stephens, 59, Gophers quarterback]. Associated Press, June 7, 2000</ref> His death at age 59 was attributed to a heart attack.<ref>[http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/060700aaa.html ALL-AMERICAN SANDY STEPHENS DIES AT AGE 59] University of Minnesota Sports Information Office, June 2000. Sanford "Sandy" Stephens, a former All-American quarterback for the University of Minnesota, died Wednesday morning of a heart attack.</ref>

==Legacy==
Thirty years after he left football, Stephens was named to the University of Minnesota All Century Team, the ''[[Star Tribune]]'' 100 All-Century Top Sports Figures (No. 30), and awarded NCAA Legends status. He was inducted into the University of Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame, the Western Pennsylvania All Sports Hall of Fame and he was nominated for induction into the National and College Football Foundation Hall of Fame. One of his most coveted recognitions was his induction into the [[Rose Bowl Hall of Fame]] in 1997. On May 17, 2011, Stephens was voted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] as part of the 16-member Class of 2011. He is the 22nd Gopher to be elected into the College Football Hall of Fame and the fourth from the 1960 National Championship team.<ref>Miller, Phil – [http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/122108904.html Gophers great Stephens makes college football's Hall of Fame] ''Star Tribune'', May 18, 2011</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.justsportsstats.com/footballstatsindex.php?player_id=stephsan002&scoresort=5 Stats Crew profile]
* {{College Football HoF|2315}}

{{Minnesota Golden Gophers quarterback navbox}}
{{1960 Minnesota Golden Gophers football navbox}}
{{AlsQuarterback}}
{{Toronto Argonauts starting quarterback navbox}}
{{Chicago Tribune Silver Football navbox}}
{{1961 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{Browns1962DraftPicks}}
{{Titans1962DraftPicks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Sandy}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Uniontown, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Fayette County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:Players of Canadian football from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Canadian football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers football players]]
[[Category:Montreal Alouettes players]]
[[Category:Toronto Argonauts players]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Kansas City Chiefs players]]