Stephen Matthew Neal is a former American football guard who played his entire career for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He is a former world champion in freestyle wrestling and two-time NCAA national champion wrestler at Cal State-Bakersfield. He was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2001, and won three Super Bowl rings with the team. He is one of a handful of NFL players who did not play college football.

California State University, Bakersfield is a public university in Bakersfield, California. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Bakersfield on a 375-acre (152 ha) campus, becoming the 20th school in the California State University system. The university offers 39 different bachelor's degree programs, 17 master's degree programs, and a doctoral program in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.).