The 2020 Indiana Mr. Football award has had Carson Steele’s name on it since Oct. 21, 2002, when he charged out of his mother’s womb and ran straight out of the hospital, dragging two doctors and three nurses along behind him.
"That’s pretty much what happened," said Carson’s mother, Angela.
(And even if it didn’t <em>actually</em> happen…it sure seems believable, doesn’t it?)
On Friday, the long expected became official when the senior running back, who rewrote a good portion of Center Grove’s record book on the way to an unbeaten season and a Class 6A state championship, became the first Trojan to win Indiana’s highest individual gridiron honor.
Steele beat out a pair of superstar finalists, Lawrence North quarterback Donaven McCulley and Avon offensive lineman Blake Fisher, for the award — one that the "War Horse" had long been hoping to cap his high school career with.
"I’m totally in shock," Steele said. "It’s crazy to think that you barely thought you were going to play football this year, with Warren (Central) getting canceled and stuff it was just kind of in the back of my head like, ‘What if we don’t get a season?’ Just being able to finish it out undefeated and winning a state championship, then finally finding out you won an award that’s like a lifelong thing, it’s such a blessing.
"I’m totally thankful for the Center Grove community and all the coaches, everybody that’s helped me get here."
What felt inevitable for years became official when Steele opened a paper bag on Friday morning and found the iconic Indiana No. 1 jersey inside.
"I’m totally clueless, and I’m not thinking of anything," Steele said of the presentation, "and (Center Grove coach Eric Moore) goes, ‘Carson, you did it.’ That’s when I realized, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness’ — I was in total shock. I pulled it out, and it was that No. 1 jersey. It was almost like a little bit of a relief just fell over my body, and I was so glad I was able to get that award."
"It’s a great tribute and a real caption on the end of a great career," Moore added. "It just dots the ‘I’ or puts the star on the corner of the page. It’s just, ‘Job well done, young man.’"
Steele burst onto the scene in a big way as a freshman, rushing for 1,703 yards and 20 touchdowns, and followed up with a spectacular sophomore season that saw him run for 2,270 yards and 29 more scores.
Injuries robbed the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder of most of his junior year, but he regained his hard-running form this fall and collected 1,659 yards rushing and 152 more receiving. He reached the end zone 33 times, with 31 of those coming on the ground. Steele easily became Center Grove’s career leader in rushing attempts (967) and yardage (5,907) as well as touchdowns (82 rushing, 85 total); he graduates with 16 school records in all.
This year, the numbers came despite some major restrictions. Steele had to share carries with junior Daniel Weems, who had rushed for more than 1,200 yards in Steele’s absence during the 2019 season and racked up 875 more this year. Touches were even more limited for both backs by the fact that 10 of Center Grove’s wins had a running clock for most or all of the second half, and yardage was harder to come by because the dominant Trojan defense set the offense up with so many short fields.
This season, though, was never really about statistics for Steele or his teammates. It was always about taking care of the business that was left unfinished in 2019, when the Trojans reached the Class 6A title game but came up three points short against rival Carmel. This time around, they completed the mission in thoroughly dominating fashion, going 14-0 and finishing in the top 10 of USA Today’s Super 25 national rankings.
Steele was the face of that team, so perhaps it’s only fitting that he becomes the first-ever Mr. Football winner at a school with such a rich football tradition over the past two decades.
"So many great players, people going all over to different colleges and stuff, just to be the first one, it’s totally a blessing," he said. "I’m glad I could make that happen for Center Grove."
Though there are a number of talented players on this year’s championship squad — including more than 10 others with FBS or FCS scholarship offers — Steele has been the center of attention since his breakout freshman season, and he’s also been the go-to guy every time the Trojans were in a situation where there was a first down or touchdown they just had to have.
Moore was impressed with how well Steele handled that pressure on a weekly basis.
"It’s the ultimate for a program to be represented by the title Mr. Football — but if you look at it, it’s a pretty clear case to me," he said earlier in the week. "Carson Steele was the best football player on the best team in the state of Indiana. We beat everybody. We beat the 5A champ, they beat the 3A champ … so he answered all questions.
"The big thing is knowing that you’re going to get the ball when it counts more than anything. So you’re going to either succeed or fail — and if you succeed, the team wins; if you fail, the team loses. And there’s just not been a whole lot of times where we’ve not succeeded with him doing what he does."
Steele has been doing what he does — dragging or knocking over would-be tacklers and generally making life miserable for opposing defenses — at such a high level for so long that it was difficult to envision this year’s Mr. Football jersey ever going to anybody else.
