Robert Louis Stevenson (born February 7, 1976) is a former American college

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 ...

player who was a punter and

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

for the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida.

Early years

Stevenson was born in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...

, and grew up playing soccer. He attended Manatee High School in Bradenton, and was the starting placekicker and punter for the Manatee Hurricanes high school football team from 1992 to 1994.Perry D. Pentz,
Where Are They Now? Robby Stevenson
" ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'', pp. 1C & 2C (July 17, 2007). Retrieved November 25, 2010. The Hurricanes won the Florida Class 5A state football championship in 1992, in which Stevenson kicked a 47-yard field goal, and returned to the state final again in 1993. As a senior in 1994, he was recognized by '' USA Today'' as a high school All-American. Ironically, Stevenson wanted to play quarterback, but the Hurricanes needed a kicker more, and as a lifetime soccer player, he filled the need.

College career

Stevenson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

's Florida Gators football team from

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 76, 153–153, 162, 185 (2011). Retrieved August 31, 2011. He earned the starting punter position as a true freshman in 1995, and served as the Gators' primary punter through the end of his junior season in 1997. Prior to the 1998 season, Stevenson was diagnosed with

Graves' disease Graves' disease (german: Morbus Basedow), also known as toxic diffuse goiter, is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. It frequently results in and is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. It also often results in an enlarged thyr ...

.Robbie Andreu,
Gators look to be in good shape
" ''The Gainesville Sun'', p. 4C (December 23, 1998). Retrieved November 25, 2010 Although he initially hoped to take a medical redshirt in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and return the following year, Stevenson Out for Year
" ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'', p. 3C (September 15, 1998). Retrieved November 25, 2010. the diagnosis effectively ended his football career. Stevenson was criticized by some commentators for his inconsistency, as evidenced by delivering short kicks in lopsided victories but long punts in pressure situations when they mattered most. His longest punt was sixty-four yards against the Vanderbilt Commodores in 1996. Stevenson posted a career average of 40.7 yards per punt during his three-year tenure as the Gators starting punter, which ranks seventh on the Gators' all-time list—one place ahead of his Gators head coach, Steve Spurrier. Stevenson's best season average was 42.1 yards per punt in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, when Florida won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) title with an undefeated 8–0 conference season, and defeated the top-ranked

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...

in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

to win the consensus national championship. During the

season, he handled both the punting and kickoff duties for the Gators. Stevenson proved to be a weapon on kickoffs, with twenty-one of seventy-one kickoffs resulting in touchbacks, and over half of his kickoffs reaching the opposing goal line or beyond.

Life after football

Stevenson graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in health and human performance in 2001. He currently works as a

Manatee County Manatee County is a county in the Central Florida portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 399,710. Manatee County is part of the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county s ...

deputy sheriff. He and his wife Holly live in Palmetto , Florida, and they have three daughters.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Robby 1976 births Living people Players of American football from Bradenton, Florida American football punters Florida Gators football players American police officers

Early years

College career

Life after football

See also

References

Bibliography