Former Patriots RB John M. Stephens was killed in single-vehicle accident

The 1988 Offensive Rookie of the Year for the New England Patriots John M. Stephens was unfortunately killed in a single-vehicle accident after he lost control of his pickup truck and ran off a highway, striking some trees head-on.


According to the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s office, Stephens wasn’t wearing a seatbelt while traveling at a high rate of speed and was thrown after the truck hit the trees. The only thing could be said as lucky was that no one else was killed or injured in the crash.

The death of the former NFL player was said to be a sad loss. Being selected 17th in the 1988 NFL Draft, Stephens reached the Pro-Bowl as a rookie with 1,168 yards of running. He played the first four seasons with the Patriots and split another two seasons with the Green Bay Packers, the Atlanta Falcons and the Kansas City Chiefs before he retired with 440 career yards and 18 touchdowns.

He also broke the school’s career rushing record previously set by Joe Delaney, topping it by 10 yards with 3,057, and became the school’s second running back who went on to be Rookie of the Year winners after Delaney.