Steve Suter (born June 26, 1982) is an American former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He played as wide receiver and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

and also briefly played

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

. He gained fame for his explosive returning ability and elusiveness. Despite Suter's career being plagued and finally cut short by injuries, he set multiple

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, conference, and school records.

Early years

Steve Suter was born in

Manchester, Maryland Manchester is a small incorporated town in northeastern Carroll County, Maryland, United States, located just south of the Pennsylvania state line and north of Baltimore. The population was 4,808 at the 2010 census. Manchester was incorporated in ...

, the son of George and Lynn Suter. He attended

North Carroll High School North Carroll High School was a public high school located in Hampstead, Maryland, Hampstead, Maryland, United States, in Carroll County, Maryland, Carroll County. The North Carroll High School building is located at 1400 Panther Drive. The schoo ...

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, where he rushed for over 4,000 career yards. During his senior year in 1999, he rushed for 1,748 yards and 19 touchdowns. He was ranked #8 in the state of Maryland for rushing and named as a ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' honorable mention All-American,

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all-region, first-team all-state, and ''

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'' All-Metro player.Player Bio: Steve Suter
, Univ. of Maryland Terrapins Football official website, accessed 5 December 2008.

College career

Suter spent his freshman year in 2000 on

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 ...

status. In 2001, he saw minor action in the first four games before breaking an index finger. In 2002, Suter played in all 14 games as a first-string slot receiver and started in the 2003 Peach Bowl as an X-receiver. Suter returned four punts for touchdowns: against

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

(81 yards),

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

(80 yards),

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

(63 yards), and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

(77 yards). He was twice selected as the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

Specialist of the Week for his performances at Duke and North Carolina. On his second career carry, he scored on a 61-yard run against

N.C. State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest u ...

and was named as the ACC Offensive Back of the Week. Against

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

, Suter's career-first touchdown reception was from

Scott McBrien Scott McBrien (born February 14, 1980) is an American former football quarterback. He played football for several professional and college teams, most notably, the Green Bay Packers in the NFL, and the Maryland Terrapins at the University of ...

for 91 yards, which was one yard shy of the school record 92-yard reception set by Ed Bolton and Stan Lavine in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

. During the Peach Bowl against

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, he made his first career start as a receiver and returned a punt and shook four tackles to pick up 79-yards. Suter set the NCAA records for single-season punt returns with 56, kick returns with 78, punt return yards with 778, and tied the NCAA record for punt return touchdowns. ''

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'' and

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named him to the All-American second-team, and the conference named him to the All-ACC first-team as a return specialist. In 2003, Suter started in 10 games and played in two more, much of the time battling a

lateral meniscus The lateral meniscus (external semilunar fibrocartilage) is a fibrocartilaginous band that spans the lateral side of the interior of the knee joint. It is one of two meniscus (anatomy), menisci of the knee, the other being the medial meniscus. It ...

tear in his left knee. He returned two punts for touchdowns: against

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

he broke two tackles for a 75-yard score and in the

2004 Gator Bowl The 2004 Gator Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Maryland Terrapins and the West Virginia Mountaineers. The 59th edition of the Gator Bowl, it was played at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, on January 1 ...

he ran 77-yards for a touchdown against West Virginia. During that game, he also earned the number-one spot on the ESPN

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

"Play of the Day" feature, for a diving reception in which he tipped the ball before pulling it in as he fell to the ground in a tangle with cornerback Lance Frazier. Suter was again named to the All-ACC first-team as a specialist in 2003. Suter also set records in the weight room: he broke the school's all-time wide receiver highs for strength index (768), squat (580-lb), clean (352-lb), and

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

(42-in). Suter had a solid, though not extraordinary, 2004 season during a down year for the Terps. He accumulated 270 receiving, 163 return, and 31 rushing yards. His drop-off in performance can be attributed to his knee injury in particular, which reduced his quickness. He broke the ACC record for career punt return yards with 1,271. During his college career, Suter accumulated 10 touchdowns, six of which were on punt returns. He was one punt return touchdown shy of making the all-time NCAA record a four-way tie. He also suffered several injuries which required five surgeries, four of which were on his knees.Coaches Bio: Steve Suter
Scott McBrien Passing Academy, accessed 7 December 2008. Suter never fair caught a ball, and said in 2002, "I don't see the need for fair catches ... If someone is in my face, I'll catch it and fall forward for 2 yards, and we've got 2 yards we didn't have if I had fair-caught it."

Statistics

Sources: Steve Suter Stats
ESPN, accessed 5 December 2008.

Professional career

Undersized even for college football, Suter was passed over in the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 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 NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...

. He attended the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

try-outs before signing as a free-agent for the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

on 16 May 2005.Jo Jo Walker takes over for Steve Suter
''The Washington Post'', pp. H03, 31 August 2005. With the Tiger-Cats, Suter saw action in just two games. While in the CFL, he returned four kick-offs for 112 yards, four punts for 16 yards, and a missed field goal attempt for 20 yards. He injured his shoulder during the season-opener against the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

and subsequently missed the next five games. In his second game, he broke his collar bone against the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

. After the 2006 training camp, he was released from the team due to his injuries.Steve Suter
, Hamilton Tiger-Cats – Official Site of the Tiger-Cats, accessed 5 December 2008.

Coaching career

After the end of his playing career, Suter returned home and took a job at the Scott McBrien Passing Academy in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city that serves as the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, and is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fifth-largest community in ...

. At the training camp, he is a wide receivers coach for youth and high school players. There, he works alongside former Maryland teammates

and Scooter Monroe. The

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous football camp was founded by former quarterback McBrien who stated, "A lot of kids who aren't necessarily that big n sizeor well known don't get looks from college coaches ... Lots of these kids have the talent to be very successful at the college level and we're trying to promote that ... We're trying to help kids in Steve

uter The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The write ...

s position."Tim Prudente
Scott McBrien Starts New Area Football Camp
DC Sports Fan.com, 5 November 2008.

References

External links

ESPN StatsYoutube video of Suter's 2003 Gator Bowl diving receptionYoutube video of Suter's 2003 Gator Bowl punt return touchdown
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suter, Steve Living people American football wide receivers American football return specialists Canadian football wide receivers Canadian football return specialists American players of Canadian football Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Maryland Terrapins football players People from Manchester, Maryland Players of American football from Maryland 1982 births People from Hampstead, Maryland