Thornton Steve Stonebreaker (October 28, 1938 – March 28, 1995) was a professional

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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who played 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 played college football at the University of Detroit and was picked by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

in the 12th round of the

1961 NFL Draft The 1961 National Football League draft took place at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Minnesota Vikings expansion franchise. This draft was also the first regula ...

as a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. He played one season at tight end before switching over to the defensive side of the ball as a

for the rest of his career. He played a total of seven seasons in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings (1962–1963), the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

(1964–1966), and the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

(1967–1968). He was drafted by the Saints in the

1967 NFL Expansion Draft The 1967 National Football League expansion draft was a National Football League (NFL) draft held on February 9, 1967 in which a new expansion team named the New Orleans Saints selected its first players. On November 1, 1966 (All Saints Day), NFL ow ...

and was one of the original New Orleans Saints players. He also played a football player in the 1969

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...

movie '' Number One'', which featured the New Orleans Saints. During his professional career, Stonebreaker played all 14 games each year except for 1966 and 1967, when he played only 4 and 10 games, respectively. He played in the

1964 NFL Championship Game The 1964 NFL Championship Game was the 32nd annual championship game, held on December 27 at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. With an attendance of 79,544, it was the first NFL title game to be televised by CBS. The game marked the last c ...

as a member of the 12–2

but lost 27–0 to

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 ( ...

. After he retired from football, Stonebreaker had several jobs including serving as a New Orleans Saints

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

for WWL Radio from 1973 to 1975. He later opened a restaurant called Stonebreaker's at 2700 Edenborn Avenue in Metairie, a close suburb of New Orleans. Stonebreaker's specialties were barbecue baby back pork ribs and crabcakes, which he learned to make when he played for the Baltimore Colts. The interior decor of the restaurant was NFL memorabilia. The restaurant closed shortly after his death. At the time of his death, the restaurant was in financial trouble and Stonebreaker may have learned that his previously diagnosed cancer had returned. Stonebreaker committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

on March 28, 1995, at the age of 56, by subjecting himself to

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large e ...

from a car exhaust. Stonebreaker's son

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

graduated from

Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campus ...

and played professional football for three years. He was with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in 1991 and then the New Orleans Saints in 1994. He won an

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

(WLAF, World League) championship with the

Frankfurt Galaxy Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Frankfurt Galaxy: * Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2007 * Frankfurt Galaxy (ELF) The Frankfurt Galaxy is an American football team in Frankfurt, ...

in World Bowl '95. Steve and Mike are one of only four father/son duos to have both played for the New Orleans Saints.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stonebreaker, Steve 1938 births 1995 deaths American football linebackers Baltimore Colts players Detroit Titans football players Minnesota Vikings players National Football League announcers New Orleans Saints announcers New Orleans Saints players People from Moline, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Suicides in Louisiana Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning 1995 suicides