The 2025 season was a grind for running back Rhamondre Stevenson. While he played a key role in getting the Patriots to the Super Bowl, he struggled early on, repeatedly drawing criticism for his shaky ball security.
We only see what we want to see. Judge without thinking. Criticize without a second thought.
What most don’t know: Before Stevenson and the New England Patriots hit the gridiron in 2025, the running back took a brutal personal blow—he lost his father.
Stevenson’s father, Robert, was taken suddenly in March at just 54, hitting the ball carrier with a pain everyone knows but no one wants to feel. The cause of death was never revealed, but it happened suddenly. Stevenson didn’t just lose his father—by his own account, he also lost his best friend.
Rising Above the Pressure
11 months later, he’s still coping with his father’s death. “I wouldn’t even say I’m over that,” Stevenson told Tyler Dunne. “I wouldn’t say I got over that yet. It’s a daily challenge because he was my best friend. I talked to him every day — a couple times a day — so it’s not something that’s easy to get over, something like that. Every day is different.”
On Sunday? He’ll be the player the New England Patriots lean on to make plays in Super Bowl LX.
On Wednesday, head coach Mike Vrabel looked back on a period that hit hard—not just Stevenson, but the whole team. According to Around The NFL writer Nick Shook, he said, the circumstances were challenging for everyone. Vrabel himself had just stepped in as head coach, still finding his footing and learning the ropes with his young squad.
“I think there’s things that come up that you’re not really prepared for, and to have Rhamondre have something that traumatic happen to him and his family, and him not know us as people, was hard,” Vrabel said. “And to try to support somebody that – he doesn’t know where we’re coming from, he doesn’t know Mike Vrabel, he doesn’t know (running backs coach) Tony Dews – other than taking some faith that we’re looking out for him as a person, and we’re looking out for him and his family, and what’s best and how they handle it, and try to do everything that we could to get him in a place that he could come, do his job, perform and glorify his dad.”
The Patriots’ Unwavering Support
Stevenson also spoke on Wednesday, visibly moved as he talked about the way the Patriots rallied around him and how deeply their support touched him during the toughest time of his life.
“They had so much support and they’re so instrumental in where I am today and how I handle myself and carry myself with that situation,” Stevenson said Wednesday. “I’ll give it to Tavai, Jahlani Tavai. He was there for me a lot, just checking on me almost every day, man, just when I walked through that locker room, he just made sure I’m good, made sure my head was right. I appreciate him for that and I love him for that.”
When Stevenson struggled with ball security early in the season and felt the heat from rookie second-rounder TreVeyon Henderson nipping at his heels on the depth chart, he could have cracked. But these Patriots wouldn’t let that happen.
They had already wrapped him in support and camaraderie, just as they were molding into the team that would go on to become AFC champions—a feat that might never have happened without Stevenson’s second-half surge.
On Sunday, the running back will do one thing above all: he will play for his father and fight for the Lombardi Trophy in the Super Bowl LX.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Rhamondre Stevenson Speaks Out on How Patriots Helped Him After Tragic Loss appeared first on Heavy Sports.