Jeff Stover
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jeff Stover was a defensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers during the 1980s.
[edit] History
Stover finished in 3rd place in the NCAA shotput competition in 1979. In 1980, while attending the University of Oregon, he was named Pac-10 champion shot-putter. With record-breaking stats, Stover made it to the 1980 Olympic trials. However, as a result of the 1980 United States boycott of the summer Olympics (held that year in Moscow), he never had the opportunity to compete.
Stover had an extreme desire to play professional football, and earned a tryout with the San Francisco 49ers shortly after they won Super Bowl XVI. He was signed by the 49ers, but played sparingly during his first few seasons. In 1984, he was named the team's starting left end, but a knee injury during the first regular season match against the Detroit Lions caused him to miss several games. In 1985, he finally played a full, healthy season in a starting role, and registered 10 sacks. In 1986, in 15 games, he registered 11 sacks.
He is one of only seven 49ers defensive linemen (along with Dwaine Board, Charles Haley, Dana Stubblefield, Chris Doleman, Roy Barker, and Bryant Young) to register ten or more sacks more than once during their tenure with the team since the statistic started being recorded in 1982.
Stover remained a free agent through all of training camp and preseason in 1987 (in the midst of talk of a possible strike), but signed before the season began. However, this proved to be a turning point in his career, as he was out of shape and posted only 3.5 sacks. In 1988, he failed to register even half a sack for the first time in his career, but still was able to play in the Super Bowl against the Cincinnati Bengals. He retired following the season and now owns the Sports Medicine Center in Chico, California. He became interested in medicine and rehabilitation largely because he was plagued by injuries in his own career.
[edit] Playing Style
Stover had rare size and power for a defensive end during his time period. Listed at 275 pounds but probably closer to 290[citation needed], he was capable of simply overpowering opposing linemen. He could play defensive end in the 3-4 and defensive tackle in the 4-3, and regardless of where he played, he would simply try to run over his opponents rather than beat them with speed. In 1984, Bill Walsh called him his "most consistent defensive player."
