Ernie Steele A Pirate's Treasure
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Where Are They Now: Ernie Steele
Fast times at Highline High led to college, pro football career

By DAN RALEY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Few people could catch Ernie Steele when he hit full stride. At a time when everyone wore high-top shoes with long cleats and leather helmets with no facemasks, he was one of the fastest football players in college or the pros.

Against Washington State in 1940, he returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown and a punt 83 yards for a score. In his first NFL game in '42, he ran back a punt 89 yards for six points against the Chicago Cardinals.

The gift of speed was something Steele, a two-way back and kick-return specialist for the Washington Huskies and Philadelphia Eagles, realized at an early age.

"I used to run from my house to the store, which was four blocks away, and get some milk and have my mother time me," said the Seattle native, who could cover 100 yards under 10 seconds.

"When I was in grade school, at Southern Heights in Boulevard Park , I did something and the principal said he was going to give me the paddle.

"I said, 'If you can catch me, you can hit me.' "

Steele, 86, still moves at a healthy pace. Often he's out walking the family dog, a Pomeranian. Yet he's lost a step. After rarely missing UW games, he's cut back his attendance because it's getting harder to trudge up those long-winding stadium ramps. However, Steele made sure he had a seat last year when his former team, the Eagles, played the Seahawks in Seattle .

He resides on Capitol Hill with his wife of 63 years, Josephine, and presides over his extended clan of five children, including twins Pamela and Priscilla, Rebecca, Roberta and Ernie Jr., ranging in age from 47 to 59, and 26 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He owned a popular restaurant and bar that carried his name on Broadway, a similar place in Kent , and a hotel in Stanwood, but sold them all over the past decade.

Steele's fleet feet took him from Highline High School , where he was a highly decorated athlete in football, basketball and track, to the UW, where his World War II-era teams couldn't catch a break. In his three varsity seasons, the Huskies finished 4-5, 7-2 and 5-4 -- and all but two losses were decided by a touchdown or less. A Rose Bowl opportunity was squandered during his junior year in '40 with a 20-10 defeat at Stanford.

The Huskies had plenty of backfield speed with players such as Dean McAdam, Jack Stackpool and Steele, but UW coach Jimmy Phelan apparently didn't know how to use it properly.

"The reason we lost all those games is we didn't play the T formation," Steele said. "We had the Notre Dame shift and all that crap. Phelan was just so stubborn and he knew it all. He kept us from going to the Rose Bowl with his formations."

Still, the 6-foot, 180-pound Steele flourished, providing a running, receiving and passing threat at left halfback. He led the Pacific Coast Conference in punt returns and was named second-team All-American as a junior, and was ranked in the top 10 nationally in returns over his final two seasons.

He went head to head a couple of times against a fairly swift UCLA back named Jackie Robinson, the same player who would later break baseball's color line.

"He was fast, but I could run away from him," Steele said.

His exceptional acceleration got him a pro job. Steele was drafted in the 10th round by the Pittsburgh Steelers and traded to the Eagles. Reporting to training camp on the edge of Lake Erie , he was among 100 players looking for roster spots and told to line up on a field and be subjected to the 100-yard dash.

"I ran away from everybody," Steele said. "I was the fastest of all 100. That's how I made the ballclub. From then on, I always made it."

Nicknamed "Hoot" because he had owl-like dark circles under his eyes, Steele played seven seasons in the NFL, earning All-Pro honors in 1943. As a pro player, he totaled 19 touchdowns, 1,337 yards rushing (5.2 per carry), 31 receptions for 520 yards, 94 punt and kickoff returns for 1,652 yards, 24 interceptions for 404 yards and 12 fumble recoveries.

In each of his final two seasons, he appeared in the NFL championship game in inclement December weather, both times against the Chicago Cardinals. His team lost 28-21 on an ice-covered field in Chicago , and won 7-0 in deep snow in Philadelphia . He's got a belt buckle and ring to show for it.

On the final play of his career in the '48 title game, Steele made a game-saving interception on his own 15-yard line.

He could have played a couple of more seasons, but got as far as Montana while driving to training camp in '49 before turning his car around and heading home. His family and restaurant needed him. He'd had enough.

In the end, Steele, the man who ran faster than most, simply walked away.