James Lendale Steele Jr. (; born October 4, 1974) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

who played his entire six-year

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

career with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. The Bengals selected him in the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

. He is also former All-American

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Wolverines football team and was a member of the undefeated national champion

1997 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. In its third year under head coach Lloyd Carr, Michigan compiled a perfect 12–0 record, won the Big Ten Conferen ...

Early life and college career

Steele attended

West Noble High School West Noble High School is a public high school located in Ligonier, Indiana. See also * List of high schools in Indiana West Noble is referred to as the Chargers. References External links Official Website Buildings and structures in No ...

, just outside

Ligonier, Indiana Ligonier is a city in Perry Township, Noble County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 4,405 at the 2010 census. History Ligonier was platted in 1835. The city was named after the Pennsylvanian borough of the same name. A post of ...

. Steele, who wore No. 81 for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

ed as a freshman in during the 1993 season and earned

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

s in each of the subsequent four seasons from 1994 to 1997. He played for the

that won a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. He won the Richard Katcher Award as the top Michigan defensive lineman in 1997. Steele had 45 tackles for loss and 24 career

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

s at Michigan, second most in team history at the time of his graduation. He was named a first-team selection to the 1997 All-Big Ten Conference football team and a first-team selection by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

to the

1997 College Football All-America Team The 1997 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following All-American Teams: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, ''The Sporting News'' and ''Foot ...

Professional career

Steele was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round of the 1998 NFL Draft with the 105th selection overall. Steele played in 80 consecutive games with the Bengals between

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

before being released on September 5, 2004. Steele had signed with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

during the offseason following the 2003 season. He was released on July 30, 2004 and signed by the Bengals who later released him. He later tried out with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

References

External links

Bentley Library biography and photograph of Steele
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Glen 1974 births Living people American football defensive tackles Cincinnati Bengals players Michigan Wolverines football players All-American college football players People from Ligonier, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana Ed Block Courage Award recipients