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Roger Howard Stillwell (November 17, 1951 – February 19, 2006) was an American football defensive end and defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinals[1]
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| Position: | Defensive end/Defensive tackle | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | November 17, 1951 Santa Monica, California, U.S. | ||||||
| Died: | February 19, 2006 (aged 54) Novato, California, U.S. | ||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 260 lb (118 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Justice (VA) | ||||||
| College: | Stanford | ||||||
| NFL draft: | 1975 / round: 9 / pick: 212 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Stillwell attended Justice High School. He lettered in football, basketball and baseball. As a senior, he received All-Virginia honors in football and basketball.
He enrolled at College of Marin in 1970, where he played football for one year. He transferred to Stanford University in 1971. He missed the season with a knee injury.[2]
As a redshirt sophomore in 1972, he received All-Coast honors. As a junior in 1973, he overcame a shoulder injury to make 66 tackles. As a senior in 1974, he had 62 tackles.
In 2002, he was inducted into the Stanford University's Athletic Hall of Fame.
Stillwell was selected by the Chicago Bears in the 9th round (212th overall) of the 1975 NFL draft.[3][4] He was originally drafted with the intention of being converted into an offensive tackle. He missed time in training camp due to illness and a back injury. He started the first 11 games at left defensive tackle, before being passed on the depth chart by Jim Osborne. He was named to the all-Rookie team by the UPI and Football Digest.
In 1976, he was moved to right defensive end. He was limited with a left knee sprain during preseason. He started 10 out of 13 games, before missing time with a left knee injury that required surgery.
In 1977, he was moved back to defensive tackle. He only played 5 games as a backup defensive tackle, before suffering a career-ending left knee injury against the Minnesota Vikings. In 1979, he was released by the Bears.
He only played for 3 seasons with the Bears and his career was over by the young age of 26, due to multiple knee and back injuries.
Stillwell was born into an Air Force family, so he had to live in different places during his youth, including Japan, Hawaii, Alabama, Virginia, and California. He was a volunteer football coach at Novato High School during the mid 1980's.
In 1979, he sued the Chicago Bears for negligence.[5] He suffered from debilitating physical struggles after his football career.[6] He discussed his sports injuries in the 1985 documentary "Disposable Heroes: The Other Side of Football", directed by Bill Couturié.[7]
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