David P. Stief (January 29, 1956 – May 28, 2000) was an

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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

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

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

and the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. Born in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, 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 ...

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

and was selected in the seventh round of the

1978 NFL draft The 1978 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 2–3, 1978, at the Roosevelt Hotel ...

. Dave Stief played a key role in Mouse Davis’ early Run-and-Shoot offenses at Portland State. During his four seasons, Stief set PSU career records for most touchdown receptions (22) and most receiving yards (2,581). He also set a PSU season record for most touchdown catches in a season (12 in 1977). Stief made one of the most memorable catches in PSU history, the game-winning touchdown in the historic 50–49 win over Montana in 1976. Despite being a role player as a receiver with the Cardinals, he recorded 24 catches for 477 yards and 4 TD as a rookie in 1978 along with completing 1 pass for 43 yards. The next year, he hauled in 22 catches for 324 yards. In 1980, he hauled in 16 catches for 165 yards. In 1981, Stief mostly played special teams but recorded 5 catches for 77 yards and one touchdown. After playing special teams in 1982, he moved on to the

in 1983 but retired after only playing 3 games. He died in 2000 of

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer (American English) or oesophageal cancer (British English) is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include dysphagia, difficulty in swallowing and weigh ...

Corbett, Oregon Corbett is an unincorporated community on the Columbia River in eastern Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. It is located on the Historic Columbia River Highway (a.k.a. Crown Point Highway) between the Sandy River and Crown Point. Corbe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stief, David 1956 births 2000 deaths American football wide receivers Portland State Vikings football players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from Portland, Oregon 20th-century American sportsmen