Matthew Anthony Stevens (born July 30, 1964) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). He played one season in the NFL for 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

during the

1987 NFL strike The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) is the labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. and president J ...

. He played in three games for the Chiefs, starting two of them. He played high school football at Fountain Valley High School and

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

Career

In the 1986 UCLA vs. USC game,

Karl Dorrell Karl James Dorrell (born December 18, 1963) is an American football coach. He has been the head coach for the UCLA Bruins football, UCLA Bruins and Colorado Buffaloes football, Colorado Buffaloes, being named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for b ...

was on the receiving end of a play from Stevens that the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' dubbed "Hail Mary, and in your face.."Bill Dwyre. Hail Mary, and in Your Face; When UCLA's Karl Dorrell Pulls in the Jump Ball, USC Knows That It Is in the Wrong Game.

. Nov 23, 1986 Quote: ''"Stevens called "Liz No Huddle Max Rebound", a play that would originate from USC's 39-yard line and would end up in the end zone, no time on the clock, the ball in Karl Dorrell's hands and various Trojans strewn about the field, contemplating suicide."'' On the last play of the first half, UCLA quarterback Stevens threw a

Hail Mary pass A Hail Mary pass is a very long forward pass in American football, typically made in desperation, with a very small chance of achieving a completion (American football), completion. Due to the difficulty of a completion with this pass, it makes r ...

, which was tipped into the hands of the flanker—Dorrell—to put the Bruins up 31–0 at the half. The Bruins went on to win 45–25. Stevens was the quarterback for UCLA in the 1986 Rose Bowl in which the Bruins defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 45–28. Stevens was 16–26 for 169 yards and one touchdown. Stevens is currently the football color analyst on UCLA's flagship radio station. In 2001, Stevens was voted "Color Analyst of the Year" by the Southern California Broadcasters Association.

References

1964 births Living people People from Sulphur, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana American football quarterbacks UCLA Bruins football players Kansas City Chiefs players Los Angeles Cobras players NFL replacement players 20th-century American sportsmen {{quarterback-1960s-stub