Daniel Stubbs II (born January 3, 1965) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, and

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

, earning

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. ...

honors in 1987.

Early life and college

Stubbs attended

Red Bank Regional High School Red Bank Regional High School (often abbreviated RBR) is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school and school district that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the boroughs of Little Silver, Red Bank and Shrewsb ...

Little Silver, New Jersey Little Silver is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,131, an increase of 181 (+3.0%) from the 2010 ...

. He was a three-year starter in football. He also was a standout in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, finishing with a school-record 74 careers blocks, while leading his team to a state

title as a junior. He was recruited by

Howard Schnellenberger Howard Leslie Schnellenberger (March 16, 1934 – March 27, 2021) was an American football coach with long service at both the professional and college levels. He held head coaching positions with the National Football League (NFL)'s Baltimore Co ...

to play

at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

, but Schnellenberger left for the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

before his freshman season started, making Jimmy Johnson his new

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

. As a sophomore, he was moved from

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

, becoming a starter midway through the season and finishing with a team-best 12 sacks. His production as a junior was even better, as Stubbs tallied 97 tackles and 17 sacks. He earned second-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors for a Hurricanes team that finished was narrowly defeated at the

1987 Fiesta Bowl The 1987 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl was the 16th edition of the Fiesta Bowl, sponsored by Sunkist Growers via Keurig Dr Pepper through its Sunkist soft drink brand. It’s college football bowl game that served as the final game of the 1986 NCAA Divi ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

14–10 for the National Championship. Noted as a defensive stalwart as a senior in 1987, opposing offenses tried to steer plays away from Stubbs direction, but he still posted 75 tackles and 9.5 sacks and helped the team win their second National Championship. The season was punctuated by a 20–14 win over

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

in the

1988 Orange Bowl The 1988 Orange Bowl was the 54th Orange Bowl, edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Miami Orange Bowl, Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1987–88 NCAA football bowl games, 1987–88 bowl gam ...

. He was named a

and selected to play in the

Japan Bowl The Japan Bowl (in Japanese, ジャパンボウル) was a post-season college football all-star game played in Japan each January from 1976 to 1993, which showcased East and West all-star teams made up of college football players from the United ...

in Tokyo.

Hurricane legacy

Stubbs finished his college career as the school's all-time career (39 1/2) and single season (17 in 1986) sack leader. He also had 25 tackles for loss, 267 total tackles and the school record for his position with 139 assisted tackles. In 1999, Stubbs was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Stubbs was selected by the

in the second round (33rd overall) of the 1988 NFL draft. As a rookie, he was a situational pass rusher behind Kevin Fagan and Larry Roberts. He registered 25 tackles, 6 sacks, one pass defensed and was named to the NFL All-Rookie team. In

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, he posted 13 tackles and 4.5 sacks. In the

Super Bowl XXIV Super Bowl XXIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion fo ...

victory over the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, he had 2 sacks and returned a fumble recovery to the one-yard line to set up a 49ers

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. On April 19,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, he was traded along with

Terrence Flagler Robert Terrence Flagler (born September 24, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and Phoenix Cardinals. He played college football for ...

, a third (#81-

Craig Veasey Craig Veasey (born December 25, 1966) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle and nose tackle in the National Football League (NFL). While attending the University of Houston from 1985 to 1989, Craig earne ...

) and an eleventh-round (#304-Myron Jones) draft pick to the

, in exchange for a second (#47-

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of l ...

) and third-round (#68-Ron Lewis) draft choices.

Dallas Cowboys

, he reunited with head coach Jimmy Johnson. He was named the starter at left defensive end and finished tied with

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

Jimmie Jones Jimmie Sims Jones (born January 9, 1966) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, and Philadelphia Eagles. He playe ...

for the team lead with 7 1/2 sacks, while also tallying 59 tackles, 30 quarterback pressures (led the team), 6 passes defensed and 2 forced fumbles. The next year, he had a contract holdout and was passed over on the depth chart by

Tony Tolbert Anthony Lewis Tolbert (born December 29, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UTEP Miners and was sele ...

. He was waived nine games into the season on November 4,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Cincinnati Bengals

On November 6,

, he was claimed off waivers by the

and had a career-high 9 sacks (second on the team). The next year, he led the team with 5 sacks, while playing mostly in passing situations. On August 16,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, he was released in a salary-cap move.

Philadelphia Eagles

On April 7,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by the

, reuniting him with

Ray Rhodes Raymond Earl Rhodes (born October 20, 1950) is an American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Rhodes played wide receiver and cornerback for the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers. He s ...

, a former defensive assistant with the 49ers. He started 6 games and had 5 1/2 sacks (tied for fourth on the team).

Miami Dolphins

On April 4,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, he rejected an offer from the Eagles and signed instead a one-year contract with the

, reuniting with Jimmy Johnson. He started 15 games at right

and finished with 9 sacks (second on the team). The next year, he was re-signed, but after not missing any games during his career, he was lost for the season with a right knee injury he suffered in the season opener. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, his play suffered because of injuries, managing 2 tackles and no sacks. He was released in February

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

NFL statistics

Personal life

The Stubbs Sandwich is a food item named in his honor, that is sold in a restaurant chain in

Coppell, Texas Coppell ( ) is a city in the northwest corner of Dallas County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is a suburb of Dallas and a bedroom community in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 42,983 at the 2020 census. A small area in th ...

and heavily endorsed by

John Madden John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American professional football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them ...

. On February 3, 2012, because of injuries sustained while playing, Stubbs entered into a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the

(NFL).

References

External links

The 50 Greatest Miami Hurricanes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stubbs, Danny 1965 births Living people Players of American football from Long Branch, New Jersey All-American college football players American football defensive ends Miami Hurricanes football players San Francisco 49ers players Dallas Cowboys players Cincinnati Bengals players Philadelphia Eagles players Miami Dolphins players Red Bank Regional High School alumni