Daniel Whitney Stevenson (born October 4, 1982) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. He was selected by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in the sixth round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Notre Dame . Stevenson has also been a member of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

Early years

Stevenson attended Barrington High School in

Barrington, Illinois Barrington is a village in Cook County and Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,722 at the 2020 census. A northwest suburb of Chicago, the area features wetlands, forest preserves, parks, and horse trails in a country-s ...

. He was a ''

PARADE A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' All-American, rated 95th on the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' list of the nation's top 100 prospects and rated the top

in the Midwest. He earned three

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, helping his team win two league titles as a junior and senior. The team captain, he made 63

pancake blocks The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see ''Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

as a senior in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. He also won three letters in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, qualifying for the state meet in the discus and

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. He served twice as the track team's captain, earning All-League honors as a senior. He also played

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

on the

junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level� ...

for two years as a freshman and a sophomore.

College career

Stevenson played in 45 games with 35 starts over four seasons (2002–

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

) at Notre Dame and was a three-year starter at

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

. He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2001. After being redshirted in 2001, played in 11 games (including one start) in 2002. He began the year as a reserve guard and moved to tackle and into the starting lineup for the

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

against

N.C. State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

, in place of Brennan Curtin. Stevenson made his first career appearance for the Fighting Irish against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He became a regular part of the offensive line rotation and saw increased playing time as the season progressed. Stevenson started 10 games at right guard as a sophomore in 2003, while also making 12

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

appearances. He made his only collegiate reception when he grabbed a tipped pass at the line against

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. Stevenson helped

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Julius Jones Julius Jones may refer to: * Julius Jones (American football) (born 1981), former American football running back * Julius Jones (prisoner) (born 1980), American prisoner and former death row inmate in Oklahoma * Julius Jones (baseball), American b ...

(now with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

) rush for a school-record 262 yards against

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Jones recorded three games with 200-plus yards rushing, becoming the first player in Notre Dame history to achieve the feat. In 2004, Stevenson started all 12 games at right guard and helped the Fighting Irish average 345.5 yards per game. He collected 56 key blocks/knockdowns with six

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

-resulting blocks, playing on a line that allowed just 25 sacks. He also made 40 special teams appearances on the season. Stevenson blocked for the Irish to rush for 195 yards against national champion

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

- the most rushing yards allowed by the Trojans in two years. As senior, Stevenson was the winner of the Guardian Insurance Guardian of the Year Award, presented annually to Notre Dame's top offensive lineman. He was an All-Independent first-team selection by the ''NFL Draft Report''. Starting all 12 games at right guard, he helped an explosive offense that averaged 36.7 points and 477.3 yards per game (330.2 passing, 147.1 rushing). He helped lead the way as halfback Darius Walker eclipsed 100 rushing yards in seven games. On the year, Stevenson produced 78 key blocks/knockdowns with eight touchdown-resulting blocks, as the offensive line allowed only 21 sacks. He also made 71 special teams appearances. He helped the offense churn out more than 500 yards in five separate games and exceed 600 yards once (621 yards against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

Professional career

Pre-draft

At the Notre Dame pro day, Stevenson measured a height of 6-5 and a weight of 300 pounds. He ran the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

twice with a time of 5.34 seconds. His short shuttle time was 4.55 seconds and his

3 cone drill The three-cone drill, 3-cone drill or L-drill is a test performed by American football players. It is primarily run to evaluate the agility, quickness and fluidity of movement of players by Scout (sport), scouts. It is most commonly seen at the N ...

time was 7.33 seconds.

New England Patriots

Stevenson was selected by the

in the sixth round (205th overall) of the

. He was waived by the Patriots on September 2, 2006 following training camp, and proceeded to spend the first eight games of the regular season on the team's

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

before being released November 7.

Miami Dolphins

Two days after his release from the Patriots, the Dolphins signed Stevenson to their practice squad. They elevated to the active roster on December 19. He was inactive the final two games of the season. Stevenson was released by the Dolphins during final cuts on September 1, 2007.

Houston Texans

The Texans signed Stevenson to their practice squad on December 4, 2007. He was signed to a future contract by the Texans on January 15, 2008, was waived/injured on July 22, 2008, cleared waivers, and was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

two days later, ending his season. Stevenson was not re-signed following the season.

Personal life

Dan's father,

Mark Stevenson Mark Stevenson (born 1971) is a London-based British writer, businessman, public speaker and 'reluctant' futurologist, as well as a semi-professional musician and former comedian. Stevenson's first book, '' An Optimist's Tour of the Future'', wa ...

, played at

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, in the USFL for the Chicago Blitz (1983) and

Arizona Wranglers The Arizona Wranglers were a professional American Football team in the United States Football League that, name-wise, existed from late 1982 to mid-1985. They played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, a su ...

(1984) before playing with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

as a center/guard in 1985. Dan's brother, Tony, played football at Arizona State while another brother, Joey, played football at Arizona Western.

References

External links

Houston Texans bioNew England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Dan 1982 births Living people Players of American football from Chicago American football offensive guards American football centers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players New England Patriots players Miami Dolphins players Houston Texans players