John Milton Stephens (February 23, 1966 – September 1, 2009) was an American professional football player who was a

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was selected by the New England Patriots in the first round (17th overall) of the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Ma ...

. At 6 feet 1 inch and 215 pounds, he was a running back from

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

in Louisiana. Stephens played in six NFL seasons from 1988 to 1993 for the Patriots, the Green Bay Packers and the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

. As a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

for the Patriots during the 1988 NFL season, Stephens rushed for 1,168 yards and was selected to his only

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

. Stephens was married to All-American college swimmer

Sybil Smith Sybil Smith (born November 23, 1966) is an American former collegiate swimmer. She is the first African-American female swimmer to be named a first-team Division I All-American, and the only All-American in Boston University women's swimming his ...

. Their daughter

Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in to ...

, born in 1993, is a professional tennis player who won the 2017 US Open women's singles title. Their son John Stephens Jr. played football at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

. Stephens was twice charged with rape. In 1994, during his final NFL season, he was accused of raping a woman at a Kansas City hotel. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation. Then, in May 2009, he was arrested in Caddo Parish, Louisiana and charged with forcible rape of a 51-year-old woman. That charge was still pending when Stephens was killed in a car accident in

Keithville, Louisiana Keithville is an unincorporated community in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies to the south of Shreveport along U.S. Route 171. Although unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 71047. History Keithville came int ...

on September 1, 2009.

NFL career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, John 1966 births 2009 deaths Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana American football running backs Northwestern State Demons football players New England Patriots players Green Bay Packers players Atlanta Falcons players Kansas City Chiefs players American Conference Pro Bowl players National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners Road incident deaths in Louisiana American people convicted of rape