When you hear about Stephen Neal,
there’s many ways to approach his sports credentials.
He is a two-time NCAA
Division I heavyweight champion and four-time All-America selection at Cal
State Bakersfield. His international accomplishments in the sport are equally
impressive. And then there’s the rare 10-year NFL career he carved out without playing
college football. He was a guard from 2001-11, all with the New England
Patriots. He was with the team for four Super Bowls, awarded three rings for
victories in 2002, 2004 and 2005.
Last October, he was part
of CSUB Athletics’ inaugural Hall of Fame class — but wasn’t there in person, keeping family
first and attending a key volleyball match in support of his daughters, Colby
and Jillian, at Arizona State.
Neal, who was in town Sunday to watch the 2025-26 CSUB wrestling
team compete in a unique home dual match — outdoor wrestling on a mat on the
CSUB soccer field — and join fellow CSUB wrestling alumni to be recognized
during intermission, stands out.
Not just because he still looks imposing as his 6-foot-4,
305-pound NFL body did back then.
Familiar surroundings such as the CSUB campus are comfortable
places for Neal. But ask him about this coming Sunday’s Super Bowl 60 between
the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara and he’s
planning to watch the game on television and not at Levi’s Stadium in Northern
California.
“Absolutely not,” the 49-year-old said. “I’m not a fan of big
crowds. I can’t relax in a place that’s super crowded like an NFL game.”
No fear. He’s just happier to follow things from afar and still
appreciate everything about the game.
It’s a matchup he thinks has great potential to be a great
championship game. It’s
also a certainty that he’s leaning toward a Patriots victory, mainly because
one of his former teammates, Mike Vrabel, is the current New England head
coach.
“When I had my first
tryout for football in 2001, Mike gave me my first pair of cleats. He was the
first football player I met. I’m a big fan of Mike,” Neal said. “I think the
buy-in he’s established with his players is amazing.”
Vrabel, as a teammate,
was someone Neal said was all about being a team player.
“He was always one of the
smartest players around,” Neal said. “To do special teams, be a linebacker on
defense and he caught six touchdown passes and was always in our goal-line
package. Whatever it took for his team to win, he was all about doing it. We
all knew he’d be a coach. I have nothing but respect for him.”
Neal also enjoyed
Vrabel’s antics that endeared him to the team.
“I remember he’d get on a
scout team at safety and he’d (tick) off (Tom) Brady. The players are supposed
to do what’s on the card and he’d do what he wanted. Brady would get so mad at
him,” Neal said.
It was one example of the New England Patriots that isn’t talked
about enough. The Patriots
were always about business and doing what they could to maintain their success.
The leader of this directive was Bill Belichick, head coach of the Patriots
during Neal’s entire NFL career.
“I’d say he’s the
greatest head coach of all time,” Neal said of Belichick, who was in the news last
week when it was learned that he had missed out on being a first-ballot member
of the Pro Football Hall of Fame by one vote. He was on 39 of the 50 ballots
needed to be picked.
The news caused a viral reaction in the sports world. Add Neal to a long list of
current and former athletes, coaches, who felt Belichick’s exclusion from the
newest Hall of Fame class, scheduled to be announced on Thursday, was a snub.
“The Pro Football Hall of Fame doesn’t really matter,” Neal
said. “You don’t set up your career just to make it to the Hall of Fame. If you
do that, it’s going to be pretty hard. He’s someone who wanted to win — every single day. He won
every single day as far as practices, preparation and scouting.
“It was a pleasure to be
in the presence of greatness,” Neal said of Belichick, marveling at his ability
to always be thinking several steps ahead of his peers and his staffs in terms
of being a winner.
“He held every coach
accountable and every coach would then hold every player accountable.
Many
believe the New England Patriots were all business, all the time.
“It is what it was,” Neal said. “But to say there was no fun in New England? Nah. We worked
hard during the week, but we had a lot of fun winning on Sunday.
“It was worth all the sacrifice to get those experiences, and
knowing that you had a chance, no matter who you were playing against, to win.”
Belichick and the Patriots signed Neal for the practice squad
initially in 2001.
He was cut, spent some time with the Philadelphia Eagles’
practice squad, and was re-signed to the Patriots’ active roster in the same
season. The Patriots reached the Super Bowl that season. He went from watching
Super Bowls on the couch to being there with a front-row view.
Neal didn’t play a down for the Patriots that first season but
was on the sideline when New England beat the St. Louis Rams in 2002.
He blew out both shoulders in his first start of the 2002-03
season and had surgeries on them.
The next year, when the Patriots returned to the 2004 Super Bowl
against Carolina, he was recovering from another shoulder surgery.
In the 2005 Super Bowl, a 24-21 win over the Eagles, Neal did
start and experience the game as a player. The fourth and final Super Bowl for
Neal was the 2008 meeting, a 17-14 loss to the New York Giants.
When Neal finished his NFL career, he had played in 86 games, 81
as a starting right guard.
“They don’t come any
better than Steve Neal,” Belichick said in a Patriots team statement when Neal
retired in 2011.
“In terms of improvement
and development as a player, Steve may have accomplished more than any player
I’ve ever been around. His toughness, intelligence and competitiveness were
rare levels and all contributed to him going from being a champion in an individual
sport to being an integral part of championship teams.
“I congratulate Steve for
an incredible career and thank him for everything he did for me personally, our
team and organization.”
Neal’s appreciation for Belichick was equaled in wrestling by
Darryl Pope, a top assistant coach with CSUB wrestling and a two-time
All-America selection in the mid-1980s, when Neal arrived in 1996.
Neal was fourth his freshman year in the NCAA Tournament and
second as a sophomore.
Pope was constantly motivating Neal to be at his best. All the
work, all the preparation and listening to Pope took Neal to incredible
heights.
Neal holds career records
for wins, he was 156-10, and pins (71) from 1996-99. He won the 1999 Danny
Hodge Trophy as the collegiate wrestler of the year.
“One hundred%, Darryl Pope,” Neal said. He explained how Pope’s
motivation, even after success in his early seasons at CSUB, laid the
foundation for the national titles he won his junior and senior years.
“I was so programmed, I beat a lot of guys I shouldn’t have. He
was able to put things in my head that prepared me for success.”
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