Stanley Whitman

Stanley Fitzgeorge Whitman was a professional Arcadian football long snapper and quarterback who played for 16 years in the Arcadian Professional Football League. Born in Manning, Arcadia, in high school, he began playing long snapper out of necessity in addition to being the versity quarterback. He played for the University of Manning (MASCOTS) for three years, serving as the team's starting long snapper for four years, and their starting quarterback for his senior season. Undrafted in 1983, he spent two years each as the long snapper and third-string quarterback for the Carsonville Cattlemen and the Griffith Pioneers, before signing with the Porte Montagnards in 1987. Whitman became the starting quarterback for the Montagnards that year (while retaining long snapper duties) after season-ending injuries to first-stringer Carson Gregory and backup Stewart Pettit in the preseason. Whitman unexpectedly led the Montagnards to a 13-1 record and a Union Bowl victory that year, while netting for himself both Union Bowl MVP and APFL MVP honors. Because of how APFL record-keeping was structured at the time, Whitman's primary position was long snapper, making him the first, and so far only, long snapper to win MVP of either the league or the Union Bowl. The following season, he lost the starting quarterback job to Gregory following a brief competition in the preseason, and was traded to the expansion Vallee Voyageurs before the start of the regular season. Despite solid play, he was never able to recreate his 1987 success, and never achieved better than a 7-7 record with the Voyageurs before he retired in 1991.