Aug 11, 2005 2 min read

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The University of Minnesota apologized for misspelling the name of a famous former black football player on a season ticket, but it came too late to avoid damaging the university’s delicate relationship with the local black community. The university put the names and photos of Gopher greats on season tickets that were recently sent out. Among them was Sandy Stephens on the ticket for Minnesota’s home game against Michigan State.

The problem was that Stephens was spelled “Stevens.” Stephens was the nation’s first All-American black quarterback and led Minnesota to its last national championship in 1960. He died five years ago.

“It’s incomprehensible for them to misspell the name of a prominent athlete like Sandy Stephens,” said former Gophers basketball player Al Nuness, who is the school’s representative to the Big Ten advisory committee on diversity.

“This guy was the first black major college quarterback. He led them to the Rose Bowl two years in a row, a national title, his number is retired and he has an endowed scholarship in his name. And we misspell his name? That’s inexcusable.”

Gregg Shimanski, associate athletic director for external relations, said he accepted the blame for the error. He said the representatives of the university would seek out Stephens’ family to apologize.

“This was not a reflection of Sandy or what he’s meant to the university,” Shimanski said. “It just happened to be something we all missed. It’s something we obviously regret.”

The black community has criticized the university for historically low graduation rates among student-athletes who were black, and for failing to have high-ranking blacks in the athletic department.