Rhamondre Stevenson (born February 23, 1998) is an

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 wit ...

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. The ...

for 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 ...

of 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 ma ...

(NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma, where he was a

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

MVP, and was selected by the Patriots in the fourth round of the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

Early years

Stevenson attended Centennial High School in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

. As a junior in 2015, he was the ''

Las Vegas Sun The ''Las Vegas Sun'' is one of the Las Vegas Valley's two daily subscription newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group. The paper published afternoons on weekdays from 1990 to 2005 and is n ...

'' High School Player of the Year.

College career

Stevenson played at

Cerritos College Cerritos College is a public community college in Norwalk, California. It offers degrees and certificates in 87 areas of study in nine divisions. History The college was founded in 1955. It was named after Rancho Los Cerritos, a local ...

for two seasons before transferring to the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

. In his first five collegiate games, Stevenson scored a rushing touchdown in each game. In his first season at Oklahoma in 2019, he played in the first 13 games of the season before being suspended for the

2019 Peach Bowl The 2019 Peach Bowl (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2019 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl) was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 2019, with kickoff at 4:00 p.m. EST on ESPN. It was the 52nd edition of the Peach Bowl, and was on ...

because of a failed drug test for

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in variou ...

. He finished the season with 515 yards on 64 carries with six touchdowns. Stevenson returned from the suspension six games into the 2020 season. In his first game back, he had three rushing touchdowns in a 62–28 victory over Texas Tech. He followed that up with 104 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to go along with 60 receiving yards in a 62–9 victory over

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

. Two weeks later, against Oklahoma State, he had 195 scrimmage yards in the 41–13 victory. He was named the MVP of the

2020 Cotton Bowl The 2020 Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2020, with kickoff at 8:00 p.m. EST (7:00 p.m. local CST) on ESPN. It was the 85th edition of the Cotton Bowl Classic, and was one of the 2020–21 b ...

after rushing for 186 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Stevenson was drafted by the

in the fourth round, 120th overall, of the

. He signed his four-year rookie contract with New England on May 19, 2021.

2021 season

After being lightly used during the first eight games of the season, Stevenson had a breakout game in week 9 against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

, with 106 all-purpose yards that included a 41-yard reception on a short out-pattern that set up a Patriots touchdown, before leaving the game with a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentratio ...

. The following week versus the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, with regular starter Damien Harris inactive due to a concussion in the prior week, Stevenson was named the starter. He scored two touchdowns on 100 yards rushing, and added another 14 yards on receptions as New England won 45–7. In Week 11 against the Atlanta Falcons on ''

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...

'', Stevenson once again led the team in rushing, splitting carries with starter Damien Harris, and ending up with 69 yards on 12 carries in the 25–0 win. He continued to serve as the team's #2 running back behind starter Harris, gaining 46 yards on nine carries in week 13 win against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

and taking the bulk of the load in a run-heavy win over the

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

in week 14, a game in which the Patriots only threw the ball three times, amassing 78 yards on 24 carries. He finished the season with 606 rushing yards and five touchdowns in 12 games and two starts.

2022 season

Stevenson had a breakout season in 2022, despite starting the season as the backup to Damien Harris. In Week 5 against 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 For ...

, Stevenson rushed for 161 yards on 25 carries in a 29–0 win. The following week, in his first start of the season, he rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns in a 38–15 win over the

. In Week 15, he ran for a career-high 172 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. He finished the season with 1,040 rushing yards and five touchdowns along with a team-leading 69 catches to go with 421 receiving yards and one touchdown.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

New England Patriots bioOklahoma Sooners bio
1998 births Living people Players of American football from Las Vegas American football running backs Oklahoma Sooners football players African-American players of American football Cerritos Falcons football players New England Patriots players 21st-century African-American sportspeople {{Runningback-1990s-stub