Jerel Jamal Stokes (born October 6, 1972) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

wide receiver. Stokes played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

, and was recognized as a

unanimous All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honorific college football all-star team compiled after each NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season to recognize that season's most outstanding performers at their respective positions. ...

. A first-round selection in the 1995 NFL Draft, drafted by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, he played professionally for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

and New England Patriots of the NFL.

Early years

Stokes was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
J. J. Stokes
Retrieved February 10, 2012. He attended

Point Loma High School Point Loma High School is a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, California, United States. It is located in the Loma Portal neighborhood of Point Loma. The school serves the neighborhoods of Point Loma and ...

in San Diego,databaseFootball.com, Players
J. J. Stokes
. Retrieved February 10, 2012. where he was part of a talented

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

team that included quarterback

Dan White Daniel James White (September 2, 1946 – October 21, 1985) was an American politician who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall. White was convicted of manslaugh ...

and lineman La'Roi Glover. The team was coached throughout Stokes' four years by local legend Bennie Edens.

College career

While attending

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(UCLA), Stokes played for the Bruins football team from 1991 to 1994. His breakout season came in his junior year when he was named the

Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year Coaches of the Pac-12 Conference bestow the following awards at the end of each football season. The conference was founded in its current form as the Athletic Association of Western Universities in 1959, but traces its roots to the Pacific Coast ...

. Stokes' junior season was rewarded with a top ten finish in the balloting for that year's Heisman Trophy, being the only junior recognized. Stokes' junior season ended with

recognition by The Sporting News, AP, UPI, and Kodak. Stokes' senior year began as the nation's leading Heisman contender but was quickly sidetracked by a severe upper thigh contusion suffered in the season's first game. Stokes still holds UCLA school records for receiving touchdowns in a season (17 in 1993), receiving touchdowns in a career (28), receiving yards in a game (263 vs. USC in 1992) and receptions in a game (14 vs. Wisconsin, 1994 Rose Bowl), among others. On October 9, 2009, Stokes was inducted into the

UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPS ...

. *1991: 5 catches for 55 yards. *1992: 41 catches for 728 yards with 7 TD. *1993: 82 catches for 1181 yards with 17 TD. *1994: 26 catches for 505 yards with 4 TD.

Professional career

Stokes was selected with the first round (tenth overall pick) of the 1995 NFL Draft by the

, and he played for the 49ers from to .Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
J. J. Stokes
Retrieved February 10, 2012. The 49ers traded up 20 spots to the No. 10 pick in the first round of the draft to select Stokes. After a slow start to his rookie season, the former Bruin ultimately netted 38 receptions for 517 yards and four touchdowns, the last of which was tossed by

Jerry Rice Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. Known primarily as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, winning three championsh ...

. During the 1996 season, Stokes suffered a broken hand and missed most of the season, leading to the emergence of the 49ers' third round pick in the 1996 NFL Draft, wide receiver

Terrell Owens Terrell Eldorado Owens (; born December 7, 1973), nicknamed T.O., is an American football wide receiver for the Knights of Degen of Fan Controlled Football (FCF). He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. Regar ...

. In 1997, with Rice sidelined with a torn ACL, Stokes and Owens formed a formidable duo for quarterback

Steve Young Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccane ...

, with Stokes hauling in 58 passes for 733 yards and four touchdowns. Once Rice returned, Stokes' production did not falter as he would achieve career highs in receptions (63), yards (770) and touchdowns (eight). Stokes was also the recipient of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

Bill Romanowski William Thomas Romanowski (born April 2, 1966) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. Nicknamed "Romo" and "RomoCop", he spent the majority of his career with the San Francisco 4 ...

spitting in his face during a ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

'' game in December

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. Along with the rest of the team, Stokes' production dropped in 1999 as a result of Young's career-ending concussion in a Monday night game in Arizona. Football Outsiders called Stokes "the league's least valuable receiver" in 1999. The 49ers released him in 2003 and he was initially signed by the

before going to New England. Stokes was rarely used in the Patriots offense, only contributing 15 catches for 154 yards during the 2003 campaign. New England released him and activated fullback

Larry Centers Larry Eugene Centers (born June 1, 1968) is a former American football fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, mostly for his first-team, the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals (1990–1998). Centers then played for the Washington ...

near the end of the season. However, he was re-signed by the Patriots prior to the AFC Championship Game.

Life after football

He worked as a radio host for the ESPN radio affiliate based out of Modesto, California. Currently, he works as an analyst for Fox Sports on UCLA's football games and for high school football on the internet in Southern California. He is currently residing in the Bay Area with his wife and kids.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, J.J. 1972 births Living people All-American college football players American football wide receivers Jacksonville Jaguars players New England Patriots players Players of American football from San Diego Point Loma High School alumni San Francisco 49ers players UCLA Bruins football players

Early years

College career

Professional career

Life after football

See also

References