MINNEAPOLIS -- At 3-foot-2, 147 pounds, Dave Stevens doesn't look like your typical college football nose guard. Then again, he is anything but a typical person.
Essentially, Dave Stevens was born without legs. A birth defect left him with two tiny limbs that never grew beyond the size of a toddler's legs.
But that hasn't stopped Stevens from playing football, as well as wrestling and baseball.
'It's always been kind of a dream of mine to play college sports, and now I'm kind of fulfilling that dream,' said the beefy, dark-haired 22-year-old, who gets around with the help of artificial legs except while on the field.
Now a junior at Augsburg College, a small liberal arts college in Minneapolis, this marks the second year Stevens has played for the Eagles. He sees his most playing time in junior varsity games and has made the varsity traveling team.
Stevens grew up in Wickenburg, Ariz., a town of 8,000 people 60 miles north of Phoenix. It was there that he was first inspired to play football.
'When I was young, I really didn't think I could play sports,' he said.
But after trying volleyball and wrestling, he befriended high school football coach Victor Smith and decided to give the sport a try. His decision was met with mixed reviews by school officials.
'They had never seen anything like that in Wickenburg before,' he said. 'I had to go through like seven or eight physicals, blood tests, bone tests. They thought I would melt or fall to pieces when I got on the football field.'
After an unsuccessful try at center (Stevens hiked the ball into the coach's groin), Smith put him at nose guard where he has played ever since. Stevens said a legless nose guard often befuddles centers, who aren't sure how to react.
'Most of the time I don't get blocked,' he said.
In addition to playing football, Stevens wrestled at 98 pounds in high school and played baseball, breaking the state record for walks.
'Wrestling was what I was most successful at,' he said, adding that he went to the state championship three times and took first place twice. 'A lot of guys didn't know what the hell to do. How do you make a take down when there's no legs to take down?'
After graduating in 1984, Stevens said his decision to attend Augsburg was helped along by Julian Foss, a wealthy friend who agreed to pay tuition, currently $12,000 a year, if Stevens would attend his alma mater. But the decision to travel so far from home did not come easy for Stevens, whose mother was suffering from terminal cancer. As it turned out, Stevens said his mother passed away an hour after he left home.
Stevens spent three months at Augsburg before returning home to enroll in a broadcasting school. After three years, he decided to give college a second try.
'I wasn't satisfied,' he said. 'My life wasn't what I wanted. I called Mr. Foss and basically asked him if I could have a second chance, and he agreed to pick up the tuition again.'
Stevens returned to Augsburg in January 1987. Besides playing football, he has coached the junior varsity baseball team and works at a radio station.
He describes college football as 'more intense.'
'The guys are 50 times bigger,' he said.
His biggest game to date came last year against Concordia. Although Augsburg lost by more than 50 points, Stevens made four tackles and recovered a fumble.
This year he has been playing with a stress fracture in one of his legs that happened when a hefty teammate fell on him. Despite the height advantage other players have over him, Stevens said he does not often get trampled. One exception came this year during a junior varsity game against the University of Minnesota, when a big fullback charged up the middle.
'It was like grabbing on a train and going for a ride,' said Stevens. 'He dragged me for seven yards before someone else hit him.'
In fact, Stevens' safety was the first concern for Eagle coach Bill Hunstock when Stevens approached him about playing two years ago. But when Stevens convinced him he could stick it out, Hunstock agreed to let him play.
'The basic reason goes back to what the program is all about,' said Hunstock. 'And that is that anybody who wants to play football can play.'
But Hunstock points out there are inescapable realities about competitive football.
'When we go out there on Saturdays, we play to win,' he said. 'College football is a game for speed and mobility. Dave understands that. I don't think he likes it intellectually but he understands the role he is in.'
Hunstock said Stevens also plays an inspirational role for the team.
'His strongest assets are not his playing abilities,' said Hunstock. 'He's really trying to do as much as he can with what he's got. We have a lot of other guys on the team who don't do that.'
For his part, Stevens prefers to continue participating at the athletic level he started with in high school instead of special events for the disabled.
'For me, it just wouldn't compare doing what I've done,' he said. 'There's nothing more satisfying than recovering a fumble, making a great tackle or getting a base hit in a game designed for people who've got everything.'
