Rhamondre Stevenson takes life's punches... delivers his own as Patriots' X-Factor

He's still coping with his father's death. On Sunday? He'll be the player these New England Patriots lean on to make plays vs. Houston. We chat with Rhamondre Stevenson in Foxborough.

Jan 16, 2026

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Do not let the nature of his profession fool you. He barrels his 6-foot, 227-pound frame into defenders because he’s got no choice — life must gone on. Two wins from a Super Bowl, the New England Patriots need Rhamondre Stevenson now more than ever.

But his father died last March at the age 54. His father was also his best friend.

Once the scrum of cameras recede from his locker, I ask Stevenson how he managed to get past such a tragedy. He contemplates the question for a moment before answering with gutting honesty.

“I wouldn’t even say I’m over that,” Stevenson says. “I wouldn’t say I got over that yet. It’s a daily challenge because he was my best friend. I talked to him every day — a couple times a day — so it’s not something that’s easy to get over, something like that. Every day is different.”

NFL players may seem super human to all of us. They’re not.

In the spring, Stevenson’s world came crashing down.

This winter, he’s now one of the most important players in a divisional playoff game at Gillette Stadium. Stevenson is the one who’ll need to combat this voracious Texans defense in every way. He’ll cradle handoffs and slam into an alley toward those linebackers who’ve seen running backs past hide behind linemen. He’ll chip those hellacious edge rushers to protect the franchise: quarterback Drake Maye. And the best way to combat an ultra-attacking front is a screen game. New England will need Stevenson to slip behind Will Anderson Jr. and/or Danielle Hunter to catch a pass and hit the gas.

If the Patriots are going to advance to the AFC Championship Game, Stevenson will need to be the playmaker harpooning the best defense in football.

A reality nobody could’ve seen coming at two distinct lows in his life.

Nonetheless, he insists he always viewed this moment coming.

“I try to stay optimistic,” Stevenson says, “and it’s not really a surprise. We put the work in. Ever since OTAs, I knew we had a good chance to be in this position if we all stuck together and played relentless like we have.”

Father and son spoke before every game. A few words of encouragement from Robert were as routine as reviewing the final gameplan with coaches. They were exceptionally close.

Cause of death was never publicized, but it happened suddenly. Stevenson could not simply press the Resume button on life and pretend as if everything was fine. Little things help. He keeps his father’s memory alive in the form of a bracelet containing his ashes. Through those fragile weeks in the offseason, the Patriots organization also had his back.

Running backs coach Tony Dews flew out to Las Vegas to spend time with Stevenson.

His bond with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels grew — this was his first OC as a rookie. And new head coach Mike Vrabel simply told Stevenson to come back whenever he was ready to play football again.

Today, Stevenson is the third-longest tenured member on the entire roster. It would’ve been awfully easy for Vrabel to swiftly move on to a new stable of running backs. New England drafted TreVeyon Henderson — a man who battled his own demons — in the second round of April’s draft. In 2024, Stevenson fumbled an NFL-high seven times. And into 2025, he put the ball on the ground three times in five games. That’s more habit than anomaly.

Nobody would’ve blamed Vrabel for either cutting Stevenson loose or banishing him to the doghouse entirely. After all, he sharpened this roster through attrition. Instead, the Patriots stuck with Stevenson. A toe injury sidelined him three games in November and he finished the season as arguably the most crucial weapon in McDaniels’ offense.

In his last six games, Stevenson has totaled 618 scrimmage yards with six touchdowns.

He was a load to bring down in New England’s 16-3 wild card win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

Dews has no clue what Stevenson was possibly feeling deep down inside over the offseason. The 52-year-old coach still has his own father. All he wanted to do was support his new back. He says he values mental health as a coach.

Of course, this season began with immediate turmoil. In Week 2, rookie kicker Andy Borregales missed two extra points against the Miami Dolphins. With 1:47 left, up three, Vrabel still green-lit a 53-yard attempt and Borregales drilled it. He hasn’t looked back. In Week 3, Stevenson’s two fumbles cost New England in a 21-14 loss to Pittsburgh. Afterward, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin specifically pointed to Stevenson’s ball-security issues as a point of emphasis for his defense.

Exactly as they did back in March, the Patriots supported their back.

It’s paying off.

“He’s a great kid,” Dews says. “We could tell from the day we got here — the day I met him — that he loves this team, he loves this organization and he’ll lay his body on the line to do it.”

Rather than simply give up on a player, coaches watched Stevenson’s reaction to the fumbling. They liked the fact that he didn’t quit working in pass pro and was such a good teammate.

“He didn’t go in a tank,” Dews says, “and just hang his head — ‘woe is me.’ He still did the other things within the scheme, within the game to help the team win. And obviously our job as running backs is to take care of the football, but he’s also done a really good job in pass protection. He’s done a good job blocking down the field. He’s done a good job catching a ball out of the backfield. That ultimately gave us the comfort and the knowledge and helped us understand that he loves this organization. He’ll do whatever it takes to be successful. And he never complained, never griped, never not worked hard. He did everything the right way.”

Stevenson was built to weather this early storm.

Without divulging details, he assures his Dad went through far more in life than he ever will. There’s DNA at play.

And consider how Stevenson’s football odyssey began. No way did he think the NFL was a real possibility out of high school. At 18, he was academically ineligible to attend college, so he picked up two $10/hour jobs. One at Walmart, stocking shelves. One at Jimmy John’s, making subs. Yes, at their required “freaky fast” pace. The key to making those Turkey Toms and Big Johns so quickly? Good ‘ol fashioned training. He can still remember learning how to spread the mayo and slice up the veggies.

“I thought it was over for me,” Stevenson admits. “I thought I was going to find my niche in something. I knew Walmart and Jimmy Johns wasn’t my end goal, but just find my niche in something else.”

Granted, he didn’t know what that “niche” would be in life. He didn’t have a five-year plan.

That’s when Robert and his mother, Juran, stepped in. Both parents were adamant that he should not give up on football. As a junior in high school, Stevenson was named the Las Vegas Sun’s Player of the Year. He was first-team all state. A broken foot had ended his senior year after three games, further muddying his outlook.

One day, close friends and teammates Tishawn Barnaby and Juan Rodriguez told him about a JUCO four hours away: Cerritos College in Norwalk, Calif.

“I was there in a week’s notice,” Stevenson says. “The next Monday, I was there. Going out on a limb, trying to play football. My family had my back.”

The school couldn’t offer a scholarship. He’d need to pay his own way.

Not easy for Mom and Dad — they had seven children together.

Juran started working two full-time jobs at 72 hours a week and Robert even pulled money from their retirement accounts to help pay the out-of-state tuition costs. Stevenson did the rest. He embraced the grimy JUCO life off the field and rushed for a Madden-like 2,111 yards in 11 games on it as a sophomore. Good enough to warrant a scholarship at the University of Oklahoma where he’d average 110.8 yards per game during a COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Next thing he knew? One of the greatest coaches in the sport’s history, Bill Belichick, was drafting him in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He has survived three different regimes, plenty of losing, personal anguish he may never overcome and, now, finds himself two games from playing in Super Bowl LX. The location of the big game (Santa Clara, Calif.) sure would be ideal for his family.

First, these Patriots must win this weekend.

New England had the easiest strength of schedule in the NFL this season.

Houston had the most difficult.

Expect a brawl. Big plays will be at a premium. Stevenson is impressed by this defense that simply lines up and plays with no deception. “They’re confident in their guys,” he says, “they’re confident in what they do.” The best antidote for such an ultra-aggressive, ultra-attacking defensive front is a timely screen pass. Stevenson should have an opportunity to catch a short pass and rumble upfield.

Rookie wideout Kyle Williams is smart to say the Patriots must play this game on their own terms. Still, there’s no finessing this opponent. Whether it’s a straight-ahead power play on the ground or YAC in the open field, Stevenson will be the one meeting linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair or safety Jalen Pitre in the open field. All of these Texans defenders feast on fear. It’s on Stevenson to lower his shoulder pads and establish a physical tone.

It’s on Stevenson to throw a devastating punch of his own that sends a message.

“Any play we run,” the 27-year-old back says, “anything Josh runs, we can make it go. No matter what the play is.”

McDaniels has only grown closer to Stevenson over the years.

At the podium this week, he sounded more like a proud father.

“I know what 'Mondre’s gone through, but I know who Mondre is and where he comes from,” McDaniels says. “I know what his family’s like. And it’s super rewarding for me as a coach to watch him have success and continue to do the things that he does. He’s a better person than he is a player and he’s a really good football player.”

He doesn’t know when — or if — he’ll ever get past the death of his father. Grief cannot be controlled or manipulated. Rhamondre Stevenson has good days and bad days.

All he knows is that he’s at peace with the ball in his hands.

That’s enough right now.

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Notes ‘n quotes…

— The man calling New England’s defense, ILB coach Zak Kuhr, is very familiar with the heartbeat of those Texans visiting on Sunday. Kuhr spent the 2023 season as Al-Shaair’s position coach.

If anyone on the Patriots offense wants to know what it’s like to face this player, they can ask him. He lit up when we asked about Al-Shaair’s game.

“He’s going to come try to hit you,” Kuhr says. “I love Azeez. We still talk. Great relationship. Great leader. Great teammate. Smart. Physical. Great motivator. His teammates love him. A guy who might be having a tough time, he can really bring him out of that. He knows everybody’s name in the building, no matter what job they have. And he’s an aggressive style of player that has a lot of savvy and he knows their system. He was with DeMeco in San Francisco. I can’t say enough good things about Azeez.”

— Will Campbell’s passion is undeniable. Moments after the Patriots made him the fourth overall pick in the ‘25 draft, through tears, he vowed to “fight and die” for his new quarterback, Drake Maye. His playoff debut was up and down. Campbell was beaten by edge rusher Odafe Oweh for one strip-sack. At his locker, he fired back at online criticism for his play: “I don’t give a shit what anyone says, to be honest with you. It’s easy to type behind a Twitter account that is fake. I hold myself to the highest expectation of anybody. I want to be perfect, and it’s hard for me to get told that it’s going to be hard to be perfect. The Chargers, obviously I didn’t pitch a shutout. I had two or three plays I wish I could have back. But that’s $300 million in defensive ends.”

It’s only going to get harder for the 6-foot-6, 319-pounder out of LSU.

The Texans will throw different bodies at him throughout the game. Campbell did face Anderson back in his early SEC days with the Tigers.

Doug Marrone, the Patriots’ offensive line coach, says the best players he’s ever been around are the ones who don’t dwell on a bad play. That’ll be key for Campbell. He’s bound to get beat at some point.

“Those players tend to have a greater success rate than the one that goes back in the huddle and goes, ‘Oh, I can’t believe that happened. What am I going to do?’” Marrone says. “You see it in these top-end athletes in this whole league, that’s been going on for a while where I think you do need to forget that because there’s no need to worry about the last one. It’s done. All you can do is move on to the next one. So what are you going to do on the next one to get yourself ready?

“Stuff’s going to happen. Everyone’s a pro. I’ve seen the greatest of great players get beat and they come back the next play and they go at it just as hard. It’s an important quality that you need to have to be successful or to have a long career in this league.”

— Could one of the smallest players left in the playoffs make a big impact? Demario “Pop” Douglas is 5 foot 8, 180 pounds. The runt of the football litter from Pop Warner to high school to college to the pros, Douglas says he’s been dreaming of these playoff games his entire life.

Douglas can still remember college coaches visiting him as a Jacksonville prep. It didn’t matter that he racked up 1,700 all-purpose yards. They flat-out told him he was too short to even be considered. Douglas declines to put specific coaches on blast, but assures he got revenge in college on Liberty’s football team.

Perhaps he’s the player McDaniels schemes up for a shot play in this one.

In New England, Douglas has carved out a niche as a timely weapon in this diversified passing attack. He caught 31 balls for 447 yards with three scores in the regular season.

“I just work hard,” Douglas says. “This wasn’t given. Definitely with my height, I’ve got to work harder than others. I won’t let nobody outwork me. I always had that out-work mentality to always outwork anybody in front of me. Competing.”

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