Sandy Stephens
| Minnesota Golden Gophers No. 15 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class | Graduate |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| Bowl games | |
| High school | Uniontown (PA) |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | September 21, 1940 |
| Place of birth | Uniontown, Pennsylvania |
| Date of death | June 6, 2000 (aged 59) |
| Place of death | Bloomington, Minnesota |
Sanford Emory Stephens II (September 21, 1940 – June 6, 2000) was an American college 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 at the University of Minnesota, 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.
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 (1961 and 1962). He was one of the first "National Recruits" for the University of Minnesota, along with Judge Dickson and Bill Munsey. The mayor of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, had served in the Navy with John Mariucci, the coach of the Gopher Hockey team. 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 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.
...
Wikipedia