CMSD grad to represent U.S. in Angola
CMSD graduate John Steele set out to play college football and ended up as a U.S. diplomat who is headed for the African nation of Angola. Margo Kissell, a news and feature writer for Miami University of Ohio, tells of the Miami alum's triumph over adversity, including injuries that ended his athletic career, in a story, titled "Heart of Steele," that can be found here.
Steele attended Garrett Morgan High School and later went to the former South High School, graduating shortly before the school closed in 2010. At South, he played football as a two-way lineman for coach Anthony Garner, who still works for the District as a sergeant with CMSD's Division of Safety and Security.
"Everything you read about him in the story is accurate," Garner said. "He's a great guy."
Garner said he first met Steele before his sophomore year, when Steele was a student in summer school. Steele, Garner said, was a shy, hulking kid who had not played organized football but took to the sport "like a fish to water."
Before injuries cut short Steele's playing days, he struggled to keep going out of loyalty to Garner, who thought of him like a son.
"He tried to hang in as long as he could because he thought he would disappoint me," Garner said.