Disgraced San Francisco 49er Daniel Stubblefield learned his fate on September 9, 2021, when the former football star was convicted on multiple counts of rape. Stubblefield appeared shocked in photos taken outside the courthouse, and his legal team is already gearing up to challenge the conviction on charges of oral copulation by force, rape by force, and forced imprisonment. Stubblefield’s accuser alleged that the assault took place at his Bay Area home, where she had answered a classified ad looking for a babysitter. She arrived at his home, had what she thought was a successful interview, and left the premises. The victim alleged that Stubblefield contacted her by cell phone and told her to come back, offering her $80 for transportation home. When the victim re-entered the residence, it is alleged that Stubblefield used his gridiron training to subdue her and carry her into a first-floor room, where he pulled a firearm and threatened to shoot her unless she complied.
While Daniel Stubblefield’s legal team mounted an impressive smear campaign, attempting to malign the victim’s integrity by characterizing her as an intellectually disabled person incapable of determining her consent (which begs the question as to why he would hire her to watch minor children?!)? The lawyers were unsuccessful with proving this as well as their subsequent assertion that the defendant had paid the woman the $80 for consensual sex, and the jury of his peers found a plethora of evidence sufficient to convict the professional athlete. It probably did not hurt that two other alleged victims testified for the prosecution. At the time of the trial, the statute of limitations on their own assaults precluded the prosecution’s ability to request additional rape charges. The trial judge appeared to agree, sentencing the former gridiron legend to a maximum penalty of 15 years to life imprisonment on the standing charges. It is an ignominious ending for an athlete who was revered for much of his time in the NFL as one of the league’s preeminent running backs.
Daniel Stubblefield began his professional football career in 1993, winning the coveted Rookie of the Year designation with the franchise. In 1997, he was given the Defensive Player of the Year award and appeared in the team’s winning SuperBowl championship in XXIX. He went on to play for the Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders, and a brief stint that ended his career with an injury playing for the New England Patriots in 2004. Over the course of his bicoastal football career, Stubblefield racked up three All-Pro and Pro Bowl appearances, as well as dressing for two other Super Bowls. If you or someone you know is the victim of a sexually based assault, free assistance and resources are available to you and your family at Http://www.rainn.org The Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network is a registered nonprofit organization founded by musician Tori Amos after her own assault. It provides services such as advocacy for victims and families at the national and local levels, as well as preventative education on the sensitive subject. In the United States today, it is estimated that an adult is sexually assaulted every 7 minutes. And that by the time they reach 18, one in three girls and one in four boys will be the victim of a sexually-based offense.
