The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
t-E-x-A-S
10.04.2002 | Football
On the night of Sept. 14, when senior tight end Chad Stevens looked into his hands and realized he just caught the first touchdown pass of his career, he was more than just excited.
It brought a feeling much greater than that of scoring his first collegiate touchdown. It had more to do with emotions that Stevens has had to harbor since the age of 14 when his sister was killed in an automobile accident.
"I dedicated that touchdown to my sister," Stevens said. "I pointed to the sky and told her that one was especially for her. A lot of people asked me if it hurt to catch that pass because Chris really gunned it. To be honest, I didn't even know I caught it until I looked down. Then I looked at my family in the crowd and everything just kind of hit me at once and took my breath away."
Ever since Stevens started playing football in high school, he has dedicated everything he does to his sister. In fact, he doesn't keep any material possessions, turning over his bowl rings and trophies to his mom and dad back home in Cypress, Texas.
Instead, Stevens plays the game to make his sister proud.
Before every home game he touches the "E," "A" and "S" in Texas on the south goalpost. It symbolizes the initials of Elizabeth Ashley Stevens. The three letters stuck out to him once he singed with UT and the ritual has been carried on since that time. He thinks about her after taking a hard hit when the pain is barely tolerable. He thinks about her whenever he makes a good play, feeling she is somehow responsible for helping, even if it's just in a small way.
Although it has been nearly seven years since Elizabeth was taken from the Stevens family, her memory has not faded.
It was on Oct. 30, 1995 that the Stevens family headed to Louisiana to pick up a piano. Elizabeth had recently started playing the instrument and she was excelling at it. It took six men to load the piano out of Leona Berken's house (Chad's grandmother) and on to a pick-up truck. With the piano in tow, Stevens, his father, Homer, and his younger brother, Hans, left about an hour before the rest of the family.
It wasn't until they arrived home that Hans ran out of the house relaying a message on the answering machine that the rest of the family had been in an automobile accident near Beaumont, Texas.
The rest of the night remains a blur to Stevens. He recalls seeing his father slumped on the floor, holding the phone to his ear. He also recalls that the piano, which took six people to load on to the truck, required just he and his father to remove.
Then, for the next couple hours, Stevens rode with his father and brother in almost complete silence, not knowing the condition of their family. By the time they arrived at the emergency room, Stevens was introduced to a scene that still remains unclear and unforgiving to this day.
His little brother, Zack, was only a year old at the time and was crying because of the rope burn the seat belt had caused on impact. His mother had a broken back and his sister, Hannah, suffered a broken foot. His older brother, Homer, was in intensive care, not expected to live after suffering a skull fracture and a compound fracture to his leg, along with various other injuries.
Homer remains a hero to his younger brother to this day after dragging the entire family from the van before passing out despite his life-threatening injuries. The only thing the family remembers about Homer's heroics was that he pleaded with Elizabeth to wake up, assuming she was asleep.
However, Elizabeth, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, died almost instantly. She was still taken to the hospital and put on life support, in pursuit of a miracle. At first sight, Stevens assumed his sister was going to be fine, refusing to accept the fact that she already had passed away.
By 12:01 a.m., the first two minutes of Halloween, Stevens father accepted the fact that he had lost his 11-year-old daughter.
His family still recognizes Elizabeth's birthday (Feb. 8) by having a cake and sharing time together. Stevens calls his parents on that day each year and sometimes he'll even drop a card to his mom to celebrate it. Halloween is no longer a holiday. Stevens instead goes to St. Austin's church and takes solace in a quiet chapel.
He takes the time to remember that Elizabeth wanted to be a teacher, often holding imaginary classes, and that she was a strong, tall girl, who excelled in basketball. Stevens knows how mature and dependable she was, often looking after the younger siblings and taking care of Zack.
These moments and times have helped him become better equipped to talk about the subject and deal with the adversity life has dealt to him and his family.
"No matter what, you have regrets," Stevens said. "You wish you would have done more things with her and you'll always wish you would have seen her grow up. I realize I'm always going to miss her."
When those moments strike, and no one knows when that will be, Stevens makes sure to call his teammate and close friend, Matt Trissel. The two have a ritual of just driving around Austin and talking. Trissel, a senior fullback, drives and listens, while Stevens talks. It's therapeutic having a listening ear, dealing with things that had long been hard to talk about.
Before coming to Texas, Stevens shied from talk of the accident, but with the help of Trissel and his teammates, he now can. He still sees his sister's old friends, who are now 18 and 19 years old, but they often won't broach the subject. However, over the years, the Stevens family has become more open about the loss of Elizabeth and once that happened, Stevens has been able to talk about it with more ease than before.
"There will just be times that Chad calls and we go for a ride and he talks," Trissel said. "Chad is an unbelievable guy, who is a great friend and a great teammate. If I can ever help him out, he knows I will, as will his teammates. That was one reason everyone was so happy when he caught the touchdown against North Carolina. We know what it meant to him and his family."
What Stevens has brought to the Texas team is more than a great tight end that is unselfish in pursuit of victory. He's a player that brings leadership and maturity to the squad. One that has endeared himself to his teammates by switching from tight end to fullback and back to tight end to help the Longhorns become a more complete team.
"Chad is just a very, very special person," UT head coach Mack Brown said. "He always has a smile on his face and we all know how special it was for him to catch that pass at North Carolina. It was just great to see that smile on his face, knowing what it meant to him personally as well as his family."
The significance wasn't lost on the man who threw the pass either.
"I'm really happy that I was able to be a part of that play with Chad," senior quarterback Chris Simms said. "Obviously, it was very special for Chad and his family, and because of that, it is something that will always have a significant meaning to me."
With only a handful of games left in his career, Stevens doesn't know how much longer he will be able to dedicate football to his sister. However, that won't stop him from still making her proud. He already knows the significance she has had on his life.
When signing autographs or talking to fans, he always makes sure to give extra attention to girls around the age of 11. They remind him of his sister in a fond way. However, he doesn't just sign autographs because getting to know the person is more rewarding. Stevens doesn't take the relationships he makes or has had for granted anymore, especially with his family.
"The best thing about Elizabeth is she really taught my family to say 'I love you.'" he said. "We never used to say it a lot before she died. Now, we are extremely close. I'd give up anything for my family and she really made us see how much we mean to each other."
Stevens will make sure in several years to tell Zack, when he's old enough to understand, about the sister that he never really had a chance to get to know. He will tell his younger brother why she still has a place in his heart, and he will tell him how you should never take any relationship for granted.
"You never really know how long you have with anyone, so you should always make the most of it," Stevens said. "I know if my sister was here today, I'd make sure to tell her that I love her."
