Sanford Stephens II

The football card features Sanford “Sandy” Emory Stephens II (1940-2000), once a well-known college football player and civic leader. Stephens attended Uniontown High School and graduated in 1958. Stephens showed great promise and talent during his high school career and was pursued by over 50 Division I colleges to play for them. In the end, Stephens decided to play for the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers. He became the first African American quarterback at the university as well as the only quarterback at the university to succeed in taking his team to the Rose Bowl. He was also voted fourth for the Heisman Trophy in 1961, the same year Ernie Davis won the trophy and was named Big Ten MVP as well as MVP of the Rose Bowl. His professional football years were spent playing in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts. He also signed with NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs but never played in a game and retired in 1968.

Musselman, Ron. “College Football Hall of Fame: Pioneer Stephens Enshrined.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 18 May 2011.