DAVE STEVENS
7-Time Emmy Award Winning Sportscaster,
Athlete, Motivational Speaker, Activist
Dave Stevens, born without legs in the late 1960s, was put up for adoption and raised by two loving and supportive parents who instilled core values that helped make him the man he is today. In the years before adaptive sports, Dave played able bodied sports and became a pioneer in his home state of Arizona. He was a three-sport varsity athlete in high school, which led to a college football career, making him the only legless player in college football history. His success even led to a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys. After numerous national articles and a feature appearance on ABC’s “That’s Incredible,” he represented Team USA playing football in New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland. Dave’s love for baseball also led him to tryouts with the 1984 Olympic baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Minnesota Twins, as well as a three-week contract with minor league baseball team the St. Paul Saints - the only legless athlete to ever achieve that. Off the field, Dave has enjoyed 30+ years in sports broadcasting, with duties ranging from reporter, to video editor, to producer. He spent 20+ years working at ESPN, where he earned seven national sports Emmys. He has covered Super Bowls, World Series, Final Fours and everything in-between. Dave is a sought-after motivational speaker and a reporter for The Disability Channel. In his spare time, Dave volunteers as a board member for NubAbility Athletics, which organizes sports camps for “Limb-Different” Athletes. He also co-hosts the Celebrity Amputee Golf Classic in Florida and is an Ambassador Athlete for the Dave Clark Foundation which hosts free clinics with Minor League baseball teams for children with disabilities. In 2021, Dave became a professional in residence at Quinnipiac University where he oversees the new Ability Media initiative which teaches media and production to students with disabilities and helps create job opportunities. Dave is a father of 3 teen boys and resides in Bristol, CT.