Donald Stephenson


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Donald Wayne Stephenson (born September 30, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners. Stephenson was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft. He was also a member of the Denver Broncos and briefly with the Cleveland Browns before retiring in July 2018.

Donald Stephenson
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Stephenson with the Denver Broncos in 2017

No. 71, 79
Position:Offensive tackle
Personal information
Born:September 30, 1988 (age 36)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Height:6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight:312 lb (142 kg)
Career information
High school:Blue Springs (Blue Springs, Missouri)
College:Oklahoma (2007–2011)
NFL draft:2012 / round: 3 / pick: 74
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Games played:80
Games started:37
Player stats at PFR

Stephenson was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 3rd round of the 2012 NFL Draft.[1][2] On August 22, 2014, it was announced that Stephenson violated league rules for performance-enhancing drugs and he served a four-game suspension.[3] During his four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, he started 21 games at both tackle spots and guard.[4]

On March 9, 2016, Stephenson signed a three-year contract with the Denver Broncos worth $14 million with $10 million guaranteed.[5][6] In the 2016 season, Stephenson was the Broncos' starting right tackle for most of the season.[4]

In 2017, Stephenson started four of the final five games of the season after losing the starting right tackle job to Menelik Watson and the primary backup job to Allen Barbre.

On March 15, 2018, Stephenson signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Cleveland Browns.[7][8] On June 15, 2018, Stephenson was suspended for he first two games of the regular season for violating the league's Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.[9] On July 6, 2018, the Browns placed Stephenson on their reserve/retired list after skipping voluntary OTAs and mandatory minicamp and after being given the two-game suspension.[10]

  1. ^ "2012 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  2. ^ Stephenson comes full circle with selection by Chiefs
  3. ^ "Chiefs OT Donald Stephenson suspended four games". NFL.com.
  4. ^ a b "New Broncos tackle Donald Stephenson ready to "join the party"". www.denverpost.com. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  5. ^ "Broncos agree to terms with T Donald Stephenson on three-year contract". www.denverbroncos.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  6. ^ "Matt Forte, Danny Trevathan, Jaye Howard among free agency values". NFL.com. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  7. ^ Williams, Charean (March 13, 2018). "Donald Stephenson headed to the Browns". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com.
  8. ^ Maks, Patrick (March 15, 2018). "Browns sign DL Chris Smith, DB Terrance Mitchell, OL Donald Stephenson, TE Darren Fells". ClevelandBrowns.com.
  9. ^ Patra, Kevin (June 15, 2018). "Browns OL Donald Stephenson suspended two games". NFL.com.
  10. ^ Cabot, Mary Kay (July 6, 2018). "Browns' OL Donald Stephenson retires after being suspended by the NFL". Cleveland.com.