Do we like Michael Stevens?
Our score: 5 out of 10. A clean search and a decorated footy career, but too little public record on him as a person to score higher.
Michael Stevens is a former AFL wingman who was drafted by Port Adelaide and went on to play 61 AFL games across Port Adelaide and North Melbourne. His elder brother Anthony was a Kangaroos captain, so footy ran in the family. He's a low-profile bloke these days, and there's no fresh news on him.
After the AFL, he did what plenty of ex-pros do and went back to country footy. At Yarrawonga in the Ovens and Murray league he won the 2009 Morris Medal, the competition's best-and-fairest, by two votes. His reaction was a very down-to-earth “I'm speechless to be honest.”
The Border Mail reported that he spent four seasons at Yarrawonga and helped the Pigeons win their first premiership in 2012, after three grand final losses to Albury. The same paper said he was often regarded as having the “best kick in the Ovens and Murray” competition. That's the kind of local-hero status that doesn't make national headlines.
On the harm check, we searched for anything he's said or done about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants, public health or the climate, and for who he works with. Nothing turned up: no controversial posts, no campaigns, no dodgy company. That's a clean sheet, but partly because he's kept a low public profile, so we can't tell you what he thinks.
The same goes for the good-person test. We found no court cases, lawsuits or accusations against this Michael Stevens, and the only coverage is about his football. The flip side is that we found no charity or community work either, so this is a pass on what's there rather than a glowing reference.
Check you've got the right bloke, too. The Stevens name has a few AFL players attached, and other players with the same surname have had legal trouble that has nothing to do with Michael. Going on the record we found, he's a decent country-footy story and a safe bet to cheer for.