Jamain Stephens

NFL player


DateOfBirth=Birth date and age|1974|1|9|mf=y
Birthplace= Lumberton, North Carolina
DateOfDeath=
College=North Carolina A&T
number=67,78
Position=Tackle
DraftedYear=1996
DraftedRound=1 / Pick 29
Awards=
Honors=
Records=
Retired #s=
ProBowls=
years=1996-1998
1999-2003
teams=Pittsburgh Steelers
Washington Redskins
DatabaseFootball=
PFR=

Jamain Stephens (Born January 9, 1974 in Lumberton, North Carolina) is a former NFL offensive tackle who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals.

Pittsburgh Steelers

After a stellar college career for North Carolina A&T, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the first round (29th overall) in the 1996 NFL Draft. Blessed with great size (6'6), the Steelers selected him as a "project" player and projected him to be a great starting tackle with several years of development.

Despite the lofty expectations placed on him by the Steelers, Stephens' career with the Steelers was marred by mediocrity and a lack of work ethic on Stephens' part. Despite his lack of development, he managed to start ten games (he played in 11) for the Steelers in the 1998 season, beating out Paul Wiggins for the starting right tackle job in training camp.

1999 Training Camp Incident

Stephens is infamously known by Steelers fans for an incident that occurred on July 30, 1999 the first day of Steelers training camp. On this day, a visibly out-of-shape Stephens failed to complete a series of 40-yard dash runs that were traditional on the first day of camp under Bill Cowher. Stephens collapsed to the ground and was then "counted out" by former linebacker Greg Lloyd, who stood over him. After this embarrassing display, Cowher and the Steelers cut him several hours later. He is the only Steeler to hold the ignominious distinction of being cut on the first day of training camp.

Cincinnati Bengals

Stephens was promptly signed by the rival Cincinnati Bengals after the Steelers cut him. Stephens played with the Bengals from 1999-2002, and was one of the players released by the team after Marvin Lewis took over as head coach.

External links

* [http://archive.profootballweekly.com/content/archives/features_1999/freeagentupdate_afccentral_031199.asp NFL offseason transactions for 1999]
* [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=APAB&d_place=APAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F8A1B65D18DCDA4&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Stephens cut (July 30, 1999)]