John Stephens, Former Patriots Running Back, Dead in Car Crash

John M. Stephens, a punishing running back for the New England Patriots, died in a car accident Tuesday outside Shreveport, La. John Stephens was 43.

John Stephens was thrown clear from his 2004 Chevy truck  after he lost control of the vehicle and hit a patch of trees along traveling Highway 169. 

Stephens played four seasons with the Patriots after being named 1988's Offensive Rookie of the Year. He also spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers. Stephens was known as a punishing runner, more likely to bowl over a tackler than try to run around them. All told, John Stephens racked up 3,440 rushing yards and 18 TDs on the ground throughout his career.

John Stephens came by his toughness through his hard-scrabbled childhood in Louisiana. When he was three-years-old, his father was stabbed to death with an ice pick in prison. When John Stephens was 12, he was shot in the back and head by a local farmer.

Funeral arrangements for John Stephens have yet to be announced.