Eric James Stevens (born October 1, 1989) 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 ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

. 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 ...

for the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. The

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

signed him as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2013. He is the brother of former NFL tight end Craig Stevens. Following his football career, Stevens joined the

Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and technical rescue services to the city of Los Angeles ...

as a firefighter. After only a few short years in the department, he was diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

Early years

Stevens was selected first-team All-Bay League and to the Daily Breeze All-Area squad as a 2007 senior when he recorded 110 tackles and 7.0 tackles for loss, while also averaging 30.0 yards per catch on 14 receptions (three touchdowns) for a total of 420 receiving yards. He also added All-Bay League honors in wrestling.

College career

Stevens played in 35 games with 10 starts during his five seasons with the program from 2008 to 2012 that included a full season out of action due to injury in 2011 and another in which he did not play when he redshirted as a true freshman in 2008. He contributed 14 rushes for 53 yards, nine catches for 55 yards and a touchdown and one kick return for 11 yards as he totaled 146 all purpose yards and made 12 tackles on special teams. As a senior in 2012, he played in 12 games with five starts at fullback after missing the entire 2011 season and 2012 spring practices due to a knee injury suffered during training camp in 2011. He posted career bests with 13 rushes for 51 yards and nine receptions for 55 yards, with his rushing numbers both fifth on the team. In 2011, he missed the entire season after injuring his knee during training camp. In 2010 Stevens was the team's top fullback, playing in 11 games and starting five. In 2009, he was primarily on special teams and also as a backup fullback. In 2008, he redshirted and did not play.

Professional career

Stevens was signed by the

as an

on May 7, 2013. He was waived during final roster cuts on August 31, 2013, and signed to 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, ...

two days later. He was released on October 1, 2013.

ALS diagnosis and viral campaign

One month after marrying his wife, Stevens was diagnosed with ALS in August 2019. In an effort to raise awareness and funds to receive access to NurOwn, an experimental ALS treatment yet to be approved by the FDA, his family started the #axeALS campaign. Fire stations around the country began posting images on social media holding up signs with the tag. Though the trend only started with fire stations, supporters of Stevens began posting their own #axeALS images, and it became a viral challenge. On November 11, 2019, he appeared on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

'' where his fire department surprised him with a $50,000 donation to his treatment.

References

External links

California Golden Bears football bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Eric 1989 births Living people 21st-century American firefighters American football fullbacks California Golden Bears football players People from San Pedro, Los Angeles People with motor neuron disease Players of American football from Los Angeles St. Louis Rams players