Marcus Stokes is an American football

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the University of West Florida Argonauts.

Early life

Marcus Stokes was born in Ponte Vedra, Florida. He grew up playing basketball and football, recording a 4.82-second 40-yard dash and 30.5-inch vertical jump. Stokes attended Nease High School, the alma mater of

Tim Tebow Timothy Richard Tebow (; born August 14, 1987) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. Tebow played college football for t ...

and played as a dual-threat quarterback.

High School Career

At Nease High School, Stokes emerged as a top quarterback prospect. In his junior year (2021), he threw for 2,672 yards and 22 touchdowns with nine interceptions, while rushing for 496 yards and six touchdowns, leading Nease to a 9-4 record and the regional finals in Florida's second-highest classification. In his senior year (2022), he completed 136 of 248 passes (54.8%) for 1,867 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, and rushed for 582 yards and 13 touchdowns, though Nease finished 2-8. Over two seasons, Stokes amassed 4,498 yards and 58 total touchdowns. Rated a four-star recruit by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

and the No. 11 quarterback by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, Stokes was an Elite 11 finalist. He initially committed to

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

in April 2022, flipped to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in July, but had his scholarship withdrawn in November 2022.

College career

Stokes signed with the University of West Florida Argonauts, a Division II program, on February 1, 2023. In his redshirt freshman season (2024), he started eight games, completing 112 of 209 passes for 1,540 yards and 14 touchdowns. His performance in a

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the ...

game against

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earned him GSC Offensive Player of the Week honors in October 2024.

Controversy

In November 2022, the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

withdrew Stokes's scholarship offer after a video surfaced on social media showing him using a racial slur while singing a rap song. Stokes issued a public apology, stating, "I deeply apologize for the words in the song that I chose to say. It was hurtful and offensive to many people, and I regret that." After the incident, Stokes received offers from

Albany State University Albany State University is a Public university, public Historically Black College and University, historically black university in Albany, Georgia, United States. In 2017, Darton State College and Albany State University consolidated to become ...

and the

University of West Florida The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida, United States. Established in 1963 as a member institution of the State University System of Florida, the University of West Florida is a comprehe ...

, with Albany State later rescinding its offer due to community backlash. West Florida's coaching staff reviewed the incident before signing him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Marcus Living people 2000s births American football quarterbacks Players of American football from Florida People from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida West Florida Argonauts football players 21st-century American sportsmen