Member Of Patriots’ First Super Bowl-Winning Team Dies At 51
Former Patriots safety Matt Stevens died last Thursday, March 20. He was 51 years old.
New England was the penultimate stop of Stevens’ eight-year NFL career. The Appalachian State product broke into the league as a 1996 third-round pick by the Buffalo Bills, with whom he played his rookie season. Stevens went on to log stints with the Philadelphia Eagles and the then-Washington Redskins before he latched on with the Patriots at the end of the 2000 campaign.
The 2001 season with the Patriots proved to be the most significant of Stevens’ NFL tenure. He appeared in all but one regular-season game and helped New England win Super Bowl XXXVI, the first championship of the franchise’s dynastic run. Shortly thereafter, Stevens was the 10th overall pick in the NFL’s 2002 expansion draft.
The Michigan native played two seasons with the Houston Texans before retiring after the 2003 season. Four years later, Stevens was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. However, after participating in clinical trials for a walking assistance system, Stevens regained mobility thanks to special leg braces in 2011.
According to an obituary, Stevens is survived by his two children, parents, and brother as well as aunts, uncles and cousins.