Stephen Starring, one of the more underrated New England Patriots of the 1980s, passed away at the age of 64 on October 18. The wide receiver — who spent five seasons with the Patriots and was also utilized in the special teams game — was a third round pick by the franchise and was among the league’s best returning kicks.
The top two wideouts on those Patriots teams (Stanley Morgan and Irving Fryar) garner the most attention, but Starring was right behind them. Alongside Cedric Jones, the wide receiver room in 1985 was a complementary piece for one of the franchise’s most proficient offenses.
Some of Starring’s former teammates spoke to Patriots on SI about what they remember about Starring, and what he meant to the organization.
“I was not on the ’85 team, but I played with him my rookie year in 1986,” running back Reggie Dupard said. “He, of course, is from Louisiana, As I am as well. He is from Fenton, Louisiana, which is close to Lake Charles. My wife is from that area and her brother told me the day after he passed. He said he had not been looking well. He was a legend in that area.”
Starring’s NFL career began in 1983 after a fantastic four-year stint with McNeese State. The dual-threat in college and eventual inductee into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame, switched over to wide receiver when coming to New England. When he joined the Patriots, he made a quick impact, grabbing 17 passes for 389 yards — good for second-most on that team — and a pair of touchdowns.
“He was sort of laid back, but a real good teammate,” Dupard continued, talking about how Starring helped him adjust to the NFL after being drafted out of SMU. “We clicked really well being from the same state. He and Stanley Morgan would give me tips on route running. I was not familiar with the passing game because we did not throw the ball a lot in the Southwest Conference. He will be missed.”
“He was our third receiver,” Dupard said. “He was a track guy that played quarterback in college. He was a good athlete!”
The quick Starring was one of the NFL’s
top threats in the return game. In 1985, he was second in the AFC with 48 returns. He totaled 1,012 yards in the regular season, and in Super Bowl XX against the Chicago Bears, he returned seven kicks (which was one shy of setting the all-time record in a single game).
“Stephen was a multi-talented player who played a key role in our team’s success,” running back Craig James said. “His talents provided the kind of depth all great teams need for success.”
After his time with the Patriots was over, Starring had stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Raiders. He retired in 1989 and finished his career with nearly 2,400 yards in the return game.
The Cleveland Browns are off to a 2-7 start, and fans have called for head coach Kevin Stefanski to be fired.
However, it is unlikely that Stefanski will be fired this season. Meanwhile, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot revealed that he is likely to return in 2026. General manager Andrew Berry is also expected back, according to Cabot.
“The truth is, we have no idea what they are actually really thinking,” Cabot said on 92.3 The Fan. “I know going into it, Jimmy Haslam has indicated, I believe at the owner’s meetings, that he wasn’t holding Kevin and Andrew’s feet to the fire because this was the year they were trying to figure out what they had in one of these rookie quarterbacks. Or, at least at that point, they knew it was going to be one rookie quarterback.
“I don’t think there was this sense of ‘win or else’ this season. It was about fact-finding and figuring out what they had and helping them inform what to do in the 2026 draft. I just don’t think this was a year where the expectations were super, crazy high. But, still, you have to see certain things from your football team. … I do think that Jimmy believes in continuity and alignment in his organization. And, he knows that this is a challenging year with all of the rookies. In a perfect world, he’s going to want to try to maintain that continuity. And, see if they can’t get this thing on the right track with a new quarterback they will probably draft in 2026.
Cabot believes Haslam still has confidence in Berry and Stefanski, and both could very well return next season with a new quarterback.
Cleveland has struggled this season as the Browns are off to a 2-7 start and coming off a disappointing 27-20 road loss to the New York Jets.
Following the loss, Stefanski made it clear that the goal and focus are on turning it around and finding ways to win.
“Obviously frustrated, disappointed on that result yesterday,” Stefanski said on Monday. “And we’re spending time right now watching it with the players and trying to learn from that. You know, hard to win on the road, and certainly hard when you do some of the things we did in that ball game. But we’re committed to this thing, and we’ll just find ways to get better in all areas and we’ll go from there. Big division game at our place this week.”
Stefanski believes the Browns have to be better in all three phases of the game. Despite that being an issue all season, he has full confidence in his group.
The Browns will host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in a game Cleveland is a 7.5-point underdog.
Although Stefanski hasn’t been fired, and there are no signs he will be, his name has come up for other jobs.
The New York Giants fired Brian Daboll on Monday after a loss to the Chicago Bears. Following Daboll’s firing, NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky links Stefanski to the Giants.
“The No. 1 name that I would pay attention to if I were the Giants is what happens in Cleveland with Kevin Stefanski,” Orlovsky said on Monday on NFL Live. “If I could hand-pick a guy, it would be Stefanski. He’s an outstanding coach, two-time Coach of the Year.
“I understand people in Cleveland are like, ‘This guy can’t coach’. But there’s a lot of empirical data that would say otherwise. … I would pay attention to see what’s going on in Cleveland.”
Stefanski has been the Browns’ head coach since 2020 and has led them to the playoffs twice.