Pats Pulpit
Stevens spent two season with the Patriots.
Matt Stevens, a former NFL defensive back and special teamer who spent two seasons with the New England Patriots, has passed away. According to his family, he died on March 20 at the age of 51.
Born in Northville, MI, on June 14, 1973, Stevens attended Chapel Hill High School before joining Appalachian State in 1991. A two-time All-American at safety, he entered the NFL as a third-round draft selection by the Buffalo Bills in 1996.
Stevens spent only one season with the Bills, but still ended up managing an eight-year career that included a combined 114 regular season and playoff game appearances. Of those, 19 came with the Patriots during the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
After stints in Buffalo, Philadelphia and Washington, Stevens joined the Patriots in December 2000. A waiver claim following his release from the then-Redskins, he appeared in just one game during his first season with the club. The following year, however, he increased his role and became an important rotational safety and special teamer.
In total, he appeared in 15 of 16 regular season games plus all three playoff contests. Stevens finished that year with 49 combined tackles and, more importantly, his first Super Bowl ring: he helped the Patriots beat the heavily-favored St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
Stevens left New England after that contest, finishing his career with the expansion Houston Texans. He played his last career game in November 2003, ending his last season on injured reserve.
Four years after his retirement, Stevens suffered a major spinal cord injury in a motorcycle accident. Paralyzed from the waist down, he later was able to regain some mobility due the assistance of special leg braces.
The news of Stevens’ passing comes a week after another ex-Patriot, Kenneth Sims, died at the age of 65.
