Carson Steele posted on social media Sunday that he’ll be “done playing when I quit having fun with it.”
It appears he’s going to be having fun at least a little while longer.
Steele and fellow 2021 Center Grove graduate Austin Booker both survived the NFL’s big cutdown day on Tuesday, landing on the 53-man rosters of the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears, respectively.
Both were mainstays on Center Grove’s unbeaten Class 6A state championship team, with Steele being named Indiana Mr. Football and Booker earning All-State recognition. Longtime Trojans coach Eric Moore called it “a great day to be a Trojan.”
Both bucked the odds at least somewhat — Booker was a fifth-round draft choice, while Steele signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent — by turning in highly impressive preseasons.
In his three preseason games at fullback, Steele carried the ball 11 times for 87 yards and two touchdowns. His ability to break tackles and gain most of his yardage (81 yards) after initial contact endeared him to fans and coaches alike. Booker, meanwhile, collected nine tackles and 2.5 quarterback sacks at defensive end, raising eyebrows with his explosiveness and ability to get into the backfield as a pass rusher.
From there, each took a somewhat circuitous route to the pros, with Booker transferring from Minnesota to Kansas and Steele from Ball State — his lone initial FBS scholarship offer — to UCLA. Booker earned All-Big 12 honors last fall.
They both decided to test the draft waters after one season at their respective second schools, and those decisions paid off both literally and figuratively.
“Both the boys used the portal system, and people were pretty negative with me about that,” Moore said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, they’ve got to try to find a better situation.’ … Both had great careers at UCLA and Kansas, and now they’re in the big time.”
Booker signed a four-year, $4.37 million contract with Chicago; Steele has a three-year, $2.83 million deal with Kansas City.
