in 1997, with rice sidelined with a torn acl, stokes and owens formed a formidable duo for quarterback steve young, with stokes hauling in 58 passes for 733 yards and four touchdowns. once rice returned, stokes' production did not falter as he would achieve career highs in receptions (63), yards (770) and touchdowns (eight). stokes was also the recipient of denver linebacker bill romanowski spitting in his face during a "monday night football" game in december 1997.