The only Bowdoin player to have been drafted by an NFL team,
StephenMcCabe was the unsung hero in the trenches and became the
first—and only— Polar Bear football player to earn
Kodak Division III All-American honors.
A native of Westboro, Massachusetts, McCabe was an immediate
contributor for the Polar Bears in the fall of 1974. He
accomplished the improbable by becoming a first-year starter on the
offensive line and never left—starting all four seasons at
either guard or tackle for Bowdoin. Behind his efforts, Polar Bear
running backs were exceptional, accounting for three of the
school’s top six single-season rushing performances with
McCabe on the line.
The efforts did not go unnoticed as McCabe was a three-year CBB
All-Star and a three-year All-New England performer and, as a
senior captain in 1977, was awarded Kodak Division III All-American
honors. As a result, the Washington Redskins made him their 12th
round selection in the 1978 NFL Draft. Most importantly,
McCabe’s teams were among the finest of their era, winning
three-straight CBB Championships from 1975 to 1977, a trick not
duplicated by Bowdoin until the 2000s.
McCabe, who also competed on the track team at Bowdoin, graduated
with a degree in biology. McCabe is an accomplished teacher, coach,
and former director of summer school at the Taft School in
Watertown, Connecticut, where he has touched the lives of many
young athletes and scholars.McCabe has served as a longtime coach
for Taft’s football program and boys’ hockey program,
and head coach of both the boys’ and girls’
varsity track teams.
