Shama: Gophers’ Sandy Stephens a Black Pioneer

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Shama:

Much of the sports world has forgotten Sandy Stephens. Black History Month is a good time to remember him.

Stephens was the first black major college first-team All-American quarterback. In 1961, his senior season at Minnesota, he was named All-American by six organizations including the Associated Press, United Press International, Sporting News and the American Football Coaches Association.

The Uniontown, Pennsylvania native led the Golden Gophers to the 1962 Rose Bowl. Stephens ran for two touchdowns in Minnesota’s 21-3 win over UCLA in Pasadena. He was named Rose Bowl MVP, becoming one of the first African Americans ever honored in the historic game that dates back to 1902.

Stephens was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011. Eleven years earlier his No. 15 jersey was retired—to this day, one of only five former Gophers ever so honored.

At 6-foot-1 and about 215 pounds, Stephens was powerfully built. He sometimes tried to “dance” around tacklers, but he was at his best when he bulldozed them. He was a run-first quarterback who excelled on option plays and quarterback sneaks, including near the goal line.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!
 

Stephens clearly ahead of his time as to my time! I was a tad too young and lived out state not knowing what was going on in Gopher Country. This gentleman clearly had a lot of talent.
 

BleedGopher said:
per Shama:

Much of the sports world has forgotten Sandy Stephens. Black History Month is a good time to remember him.

Stephens was the first black major college first-team All-American quarterback. In 1961, his senior season at Minnesota, he was named All-American by six organizations including the Associated Press, United Press International, Sporting News and the American Football Coaches Association.

The Uniontown, Pennsylvania native led the Golden Gophers to the 1962 Rose Bowl. Stephens ran for two touchdowns in Minnesota’s 21-3 win over UCLA in Pasadena. He was named Rose Bowl MVP, becoming one of the first African Americans ever honored in the historic game that dates back to 1902.

Stephens was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011. Eleven years earlier his No. 15 jersey was retired—to this day, one of only five former Gophers ever so honored.

At 6-foot-1 and about 215 pounds, Stephens was powerfully built. He sometimes tried to “dance” around tacklers, but he was at his best when he bulldozed them. He was a run-first quarterback who excelled on option plays and quarterback sneaks, including near the goal line.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

Uh oh. Houston, we may have a problem...

https://gophersports.com/roster.aspx?path=football

Jacob Clark and C. J. Smith are both listed as #15.
 




They don’t retire the number. Just the Jersey I think.
 

Some guy said:
They don’t retire the number. Just the Jersey I think.
Click to expand...

So... a little bit different from how the New York Yankees do it, eh?

And, closer to home, I doubt you'll be seeing any Vikings players wearing #10 anytime soon.
 

RememberMurray said:
So... a little bit different from how the New York Yankees do it, eh?

And, closer to home, I doubt you'll be seeing any Vikings players wearing #10 anytime soon.
Click to expand...

Okay?

What are you talking about?



I am trying to explain why you see a gopher in number 15. What does that have to do with the Vikings?
 

Some guy said:
Okay?

What are you talking about?



I am trying to explain why you see a gopher in number 15. What does that have to do with the Vikings?
Click to expand...

Your point is that it's a system that involves retiring the jersey rather than the number. I fully understood your point.

My point is that that's a completely different system than the one used by the Vikings. You seem to be baffled by my point.

I'll try it a different way: To me, retiring a jersey — but not the number on the jersey — seems meaningless.
 



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Seems like it would be tough to retire numbers in college football being that we already use duplicates for offense and defense.
 

RememberMurray said:
Your point is that it's a system that involves retiring the jersey rather than the number. I fully understood your point.

My point is that that's a completely different system than the one used by the Vikings. You seem to be baffled by my point.

I'll try it a different way: To me, retiring a jersey — but not the number on the jersey — seems meaningless.
Click to expand...

Why don’t you say what you mean the first time you say it rather than the second?
 





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