Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: Dwight Stephenson

Need your fix of Alabama sports? BamaCentral has you covered

Pro Football Fall of Fame

Even though he would be regarded as the premier center of the National Football League during his professional career with the Miami Dolphins, Dwight Stephenson didn’t leave the University of Alabama with quite the same level of hype.

But he was good, extremely good.

Stephenson helped the Crimson Tide to consecutive national championships (1978 and 1979), three straight Sugar Bowl victories (1977-79 seasons), and a 21-game winning streak during his junior and senior years. He was also a finalist for the 1979 Lombardi Award, given annually to the nation’s top offensive lineman.

“Dwight Stephenson was the best center I ever coached,” Alabama coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant said. “He was a man among children.”

However, in part because of his position, Stephenson (6-foot-2, 255 pounds) was only a second-round draft pick, and the 48th overall selection of the 1980 NFL Draft. He spent much of his rookie season playing special teams, and it wasn’t until Mark Dennard was injured during the 11th game of the 1981 regular season that Stephenson made his first pro start with the Miami Dolphins.

Stephenson subsequently played in 107 straight games, including 80 consecutive starts, until the 1987 players’ strike ended the streak. He earned both All-Pro and All-AFC recognition five straight years from 1983 to 1987, and was named the AFC or NFL Offensive Lineman of the Year in various major polls four times.

Although a knee injury would cut his career short, Stephenson was selected for five straight Pro Bowl games, the first four as a starter (injuries prevented him from playing in the 1987 and 1988 games). He also started in Super Bowls XVII and XIX, and the 1982, 1984 and 1985 AFC Championship games.

“Dwight Stephenson was a bear,” former Dolphins nose tackle Bob Baumhower, who also played for Alabama, once said. “He was the toughest guy I ever played against, and that made it so much easier for me on game day.”

In addition to his intensity and explosive charge off the snap, Stephenson was known for his uncanny speed and ability quickly make powerful blocks after hiking the ball. He was the Dolphins’ offensive captain while anchoring the line in front of quarterback Dan Marino, which allowed the fewest quarterback sacks in the NFL six straight years.

Stephenson also had the unique privilege of having Bryant and Don Shula as coaches, and Shula presented him during induction ceremonies for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“Those two guys are very similar,” Stephenson said. “I think that if Coach Shula coached on the college level that they would be even closer to the way they were, or if Coach Bryant was on the pro level. But, the difference was, Coach Bryant was dealing with people that were really boys becoming young men, who were still being molded, teaching us about life and that sort of thing. Coach Bryant was really good at that and that was what he realized; he was molding young men. And then, when you get to the pros, you are a man more or less, and Coach Shula continued to mold and work, and teach you things about life and about football.

“Things that I learned from Coach Shula as well as Coach Bryant still stick with me today. The difference was that Coach Bryant was dealing with young men, boys trying to become young men. Coach Shula was dealing with men, and he respected us that way. He wanted guys that were responsible and having their job be an important thing.”

Some of this post originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books