Carson Steele (born October 21, 2002) is an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player who is a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

. He began his college career with the

Ball State Cardinals The Ball State Cardinals are the athletic teams that represent Ball State University, located in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals are part of the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference. Charlie Cardinal is the team mascot. The Ball State Uni ...

Early years

Steele was raised in

Greenwood, Indiana Greenwood is a city in Johnson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 63,830 at the 2020 Census. Greenwood is located between Indiana State Road 37 and Interstate 65. The city shares a border with Indianapolis and is the most pop ...

. He has had a pet alligator named "Crocky-J" since he was in first or second grade; the alligator grew to four or five feet in length. He attended

Center Grove High School Center Grove High School is a high school located in Greenwood, Indiana. A part of Center Grove Community School Corporation, it serves western Greenwood and most of Bargersville. Founded in 1884, the high school has always been located at the ...

in Greenwood, rushing for 1,659 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior in 2020. He tallied a total of 5,907 rushing yards during his high school career. He was selected as Mr. Football in Indiana after the 2020 season.

College football

Steele signed a letter of intent to play

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

in February 2021. Due to his long blonde hair, fitness (less than 10% body fat), and talents as a running back, he received nicknames at Ball State, including "Thor", "Fabio", and "Man of Steele". As a freshman in 2021, he rushed for 891 yards and six touchdowns. During his freshman year, he squatted 615 pounds and was able to bench press 405 lbs.

Barstool Sports Barstool Sports is an American blog website and digital media company headquartered in New York City that produces content on sports and pop culture. Founded by David Portnoy in 2003 in Milton, Massachusetts, the company's two primary owners are ...

' podcast "Unnecessary Roughness" called him "the most interesting man in CFB (college football)." Prior to the 2022 season, Steele was selected by Bruce Feldman of ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...

'' to his list of the top 100 "freaks" in college football. On November 8, 2022, he rushed for a career-high 198 yards and three touchdowns against Toledo. He also rushed for 192 yards against

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...

. He was awarded MAC West Offensive Player of the Week twice during the 2022 season. Through games played on November 19, 2022, Steele ranked ninth nationally with 1,376 rushing yards on 263 attempts (5.2 yards per carry). On January 4, 2023, Steele committed to play at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, for the Bruins.

Statistics

References

External links

Ball State Cardinals bio

UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Carson 2002 births Living people American football running backs Ball State Cardinals football players People from Greenwood, Indiana Sportspeople from the Indianapolis metropolitan area Players of American football from Indiana Sportspeople from Indianapolis UCLA Bruins football players