NFL: Former San Francisco 49ers Star Dana Stubblefield Charged With Raping Disabled Woman

Former NFL star Dana Stubblefield is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. According to The Mercury News, the former San Francisco 49ers star has been charged with raping a mentally disabled woman. The alleged incident took place at the home of Stubblefield. The woman had reportedly gone there to interview for a babysitting job. With a substantial amount of evidence against him, Stubblefield is facing a serious amount of prison time if convicted.

On April 9, 2015, an unnamed woman had allegedly arranged for an interview with Dana Stubblefield. He had found her online through a website that connects babysitters with clients. After the interview, Stubblefield sent her on her way. Shortly afterward, the 45-year-old sent her a text message, asking her to return to the house. Stubblefield wanted to pay her for her time. According to the woman, that was when the sexual assault took place. She was allowed to leave and immediately notified the police.

A big problem for Dana Stubblefield is that the court of public perception has already deemed him to be guilty. There is DNA evidence that proves that sexual contact was made between the two. It also does not help that Stubblefield is 6-feet, 3-inches tall and weighs 310 pounds. The alleged victim is 5-feet tall, and weighs only 105 pounds. That doesn’t paint a very pretty picture for the man who won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 1997.

According to TMZ, Dana Stubblefield is facing five separate charges. The Ohio native has been charged with rape by force, rape of a victim incapable of giving consent, oral copulation by force, oral copulation with a person incapable of giving consent and false imprisonment. Those charges were enough to give Stubblefield a bail amount of $250,000. Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Tim McInerny issued a statement, and the prosecution is definitely going to focus on her disabled status.

This is not the first time that Dana Stubblefield is facing big charges in a court of law. Back in 2008, he plead guilty to making false statements to federal prosecutors. It was during the trial for the BALCO performance enhancing drugs scandal. Stubblefield only served a two year probation because he cooperated with investigators and the NFL by providing them with names of players, agents, and trainers that were suspected of using the drugs.

Another legal incident involved stealing mail from an ex-girlfriend. Dana Stubblefield had submitted a change of address form without permission. That enabled him to receive mail that was intended for someone else. Some of the items that were stolen included unemployment checks. No word on whether he tried to cash those checks in, but he could have just been taking them to prevent the ex-girlfriend from having money. According to SB Nation, Stubblefield was sentenced to 90 days in jail for the incident.

While the San Francisco 49ers have not been interviewed about the incident at this point in time, the belief is that they will try to distance themselves from Dana Stubblefield. There is a chance that general manager Trent Baalke, or team owner Jed York, might say that they’re supportive until he has been proven guilty in a court of law, but the smarter bet is that they will downplay the association that he has with the Niners.

If convicted, this is quite the fall from grace for someone that used to be on top of the world. For a couple of seasons there, Dana Stubblefield was one of the best players in the NFL. He won a Super Bowl and went to a handful of Pro Bowl games in Hawaii. Now, he is being accused of a very heinous crime.

[Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images]