Mike Stephans

Mike Stephans was an American football player for the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights. He was the team's starting quarterback in 1996.

College
Stephans was from Morristown, New Jersey. He played both baseball and football. As a football player, he was a quarterback and was a walk-on at two different colleges.

Stephans made the Rutgers Scarlet Knights roster in 1996, when he was a senior. He started the season as the third-string quarterback behind Corey Valentine and Ralph Sacca. During the first Rutgers game, a win over Villanova, Stephans played in the second half and completed two of four passes for 29 yards. He also had one rushing touchdown. The following week against Navy, he again received some playing time in the second half; he was 2 for 10 passing for 29 yards, and the Scarlet Knights lost. Unfortunately, on a scamper play he was forced out of bounds and collided with Navy's mascot, injuring the goat. This caused a great controversy since Navy fans claimed Stephans could have avoided the collision but did it on purpose. The play has since been referred to as "The Goat Play" and resulted in PETA taken a firm stance against animals being used as mascots in sports.

Before the third game against #10 ranked Miami, Rutgers coach Terry Shea announced that Stephans would be the starter. "Mike has a strong arm and is just what the team needs to have," said Shea. "He's probably the most gifted of our three passers, but he's had no chance." It was Stephans' first collegiate start, and he completed 9 of 26 passes with two interceptions in a 33–0 loss.

Stephans continued to see action during the next few games. On October 12, he was 16 for 34 passing with 246 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Army. However, in a game against Boston College, Stephans broke his left thumb and missed some time the rest of the year because of that.

Overall, Stephans finished the 1996 season with 918 passing yards and four touchdowns. He led the Scarlet Knights in both passing yards and total offense yards (829).