Steele puts his name in the record books

One of the oddest sights at Shepherd University's football practice each day is seeing Deante Steele, the Rams' return specialist extraordinaire, sitting back, waiting to field a punt or kickoff and never getting the opportunity to do it.

You'd think Shepherd would want to keep their ace returner as fresh as possible when Saturday comes around for a game, but the opposite strategy is in play.

The Rams' coaching staff figures that an opponent isn't going to take the chance of kicking to the Potomac High School graduate in a game. So why waste precious practice time working on something that usually doesn't materialize anyway?

Excusing the pun, Steele gets a kick out of it. Here's one of the nation's most feared returners and his own team won't even give him a chance to show what he can do.

Instead, he helps the special teams work on blocking.

"I'm not allowed to get the ball in practice," Steele said. "The coaches just tell me, 'You won't get the ball in the game.'"

Most opponents steer away from kicking to Steele, but others take their chances. In either case, though, Steele finds a way to still get the ball and be productive.

This past weekend in Shepherd's 31-30 loss to West Liberty State, the 5-foot-9 Steele tied an NCAA Division II record when he returned his 10th kick for a touchdown. The play came in the third quarter off an 86-yard kickoff.

The score also tied a Division II single-season mark with six runbacks. Steele has also scored touchdowns off three punts, another kickoff and one interception this season.

Natural instincts play a big part in Steele's success as a return specialist. Even without much preparation in practice, Steele has been doing this long enough to develop a keen sense of what to do.

"As of now it doesn't affect me, but I thought it would, not catching a punt during practice," said Steele, who ranks fifth in Division II in punt returns (18.16 yards per return) and ninth in kickoffs (31.07 yards per return).

Steele credits his blockers, a unit that, for the most part, has been together since Steele's freshman year.

"Above all else, we're brothers out there and you don't want one of your brothers to get hit," Steele said.

Steele entered the season as an established kick returner who was named to several preseason all-American teams. Last season, as a sophomore, he earned all-American honors after finishing second in the nation in punt return average (20.2 yards per return) and 11th in kickoff returns (28.9 per return).

Steele said he was unaware of his record-tying effort until Monday when a coach informed him of the accomplishment. While it made him proud, one of his blockers, Will Wheeler, reminded Steele there was still time to set records.

"He said what will make it more special is when you break it this season," Steele said. "That's true."

Sports editor David Fawcett can be reached at 703-878-8052.