Mark Stepnoski

Mark Stepnoski
Positions: Center , Guard	Jersey numbers: 70, 53
born January 20, 1967 in Erie , Pennsylvania
Career information
Active : 1989 - 2001
NFL Draft : 1989 / Round: 3 / Pick: 57
College : Pittsburgh
Teams
Dallas Cowboys (1989-1994, 1999-2001) Houston / Tennessee Oilers (1995–1998)
Career statistics
Games	194
as a starter	182
Fumbles secured	12
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards
2 × Super Bowl winners XXVII , XXVIII 5 × Pro Bowl election (1992–1996) 3 × All-Pro election (1992, 1994, 1996) 2nd team NFL 1990s All-Decade Team

Mark Matthew Stepnoski (born January 20, 1967 in Erie , Pennsylvania , USA ) is a retired American football player . He played as a center in the National Football League (NFL).

Player career

college

After attending a Catholic high school in his native city, Stepnoski studied rhetoric and communication at the University of Pittsburgh . At the same time he played as a guard for the Pittsburgh Panthers , the football team of his college . Stepnoski was actually too thin for this position, but he was able to compensate for this deficiency by being quick. Because of his achievements, he was voted All American and was targeted by the NFL scouts .

NFL

In 1989, Jimmy Johnson took over the position of head coach for the Dallas Cowboys . The Cowboys were the most unsuccessful team in the NFL at the time. Johnson wanted to lead the cowboys back to the top of the league with young, hungry and promising young players. In addition to Stepnoski, who was signed in the third round in 57th place in the NFL Draft , the Cowboys managed to sign other future performers this year, such as the quarterback Troy Aikman , the fullback Daryl Johnston or the defensive end Tony Tolbert . All players later found their way to the Pro Bowl . The following year the Cowboys managed to tie running back Emmitt Smith to the team. The Dallas team became one of the defining teams in the NFL.

Stepnoski was able to play out his strengths with the cowboys. It was mainly used as a center. In addition to handing over the ball to the quarterback and protecting him, he was used as a blocker for Smith due to his speed. With his team, Stepnoski was able to win the Super Bowl twice . The Cowboys won Super Bowl XXVII against the Buffalo Bills with 52:17, in the subsequent Super Bowl XXVIII the Bills had to admit defeat with 30:13.

From 1995 to 1998 Stepnoski ran for the Houston / Tennessee Oilers and then returned to the Cowboys for three seasons. He was no longer able to win the title. Due to numerous injuries Stepnoski had to end his career in 2001.

Honors

Stepnoski played in five pro bowls , is a member of the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team and the Pennsylvania Football All-Century Team.

Off the field

Stepnoski now lives in Vancouver , Canada . After his career, he admitted that he had already used marijuana regularly as a teenager and is currently actively campaigning for the legalization of this drug. He also supports an organization that is committed to finding out the background to the attacks of September 11, 2001 .

Web links

• Stepnoski with the Pittsburgh Panthers
• Interview with Stepnoski
• Stepnoski at the Dallas Cowboys ( Memento from May 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ List of players ( memento from March 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

literature

• Jens Plassmann: NFL - American Football. The game, the stars, the stories (= Rororo 9445 rororo Sport ). Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-499-19445-7 .
• Ron St. Angelo, Norm Hitzges: Greatest Team Ever. The Dallas Cowboys Dynasty of the 1990s. Thomas Nelson, Nashville TN 2007, ISBN 978-1-4016-0340-3 .