When Eddie Steele reports to training camp in late May, he’ll be one ring up on his teammates.
Steele will be well-rested after spending his honeymoon with his new bride Stephanie on the Mayan Riviera just south of Cancun, Mexico.
The couple’s wedding on the first weekend of May follows the most interesting season of Steele’s career, even more unusual that his rise to prominence in the 2014 season, when he was the team’s nominee for Most Outstanding Canadian.
Shortly after signing a contract extension in mid-October that will bring the Winnipeg-trained defensive lineman back to the Edmonton Eskimos for the fourth straight season, he popped the question.
It was late in the season, when the Eskimos had two weeks off before hosting the CFL West Final.
“It’s going to be an exciting time in May, that’s for sure,” said Steele, who will be married in Winnipeg before the couple moves to Edmonton for this season. “I’m looking forward to being with somebody during football season. Normally, I’m there all by myself during football seasons.”
Even though playing between defensive leaders Odell Willis and Almondo Sewell has its own rewards, there’s something about having somebody to go home to after a busy day on the practice field or after a game.
“To have a partner out there, to help me get through the bumps and bruises, cook me some good meals, the month of May itself is going to be pretty crazy,” said Steele. “After we go on our honeymoon, training camp is just around the corner. It’s going to be a very busy month, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
For a guy who grew up in Winnipeg and played his first three CFL seasons in Hamilton, winning a Grey Cup in Winnipeg in front of family and friends proved to be just another special moment in Steele’s life.
“It’s a true dream come true to have won it in Winnipeg,” said Steele. “To have had the support of my friends and family, who were all here, it’s pretty amazing. You don’t often have the Grey Cup game in Winnipeg. It’s usually in Toronto or Vancouver, so to actually have been able to make it the year it was in Winnipeg was pretty special. There’s so much good support I had in this city the whole time, it was pretty awesome.
“We had a down year when I first arrived, but the past couple of years, we’ve had pretty good success. I signed the contract extension during the season, so it turned out to be a pretty good season for me.”
Steele proved he could do whatever it takes during the season. When injuries decimated the offensive line, Steele was asked to step in and help bolster the unit. Although it was not unusual in the early days of the CFL for linemen to play both sides of the trenches, it was a bit of a throwback experience.
Not that he did both during the same games.
“That was something very different and very unexpected but, hey, coach asked me to do it and I looked at it as a challenge,” said Steele. “I love challenges and that was a challenge. I rose to the opportunity. Everything went smoothly for me. The first start didn’t go as smoothly as I would have liked and the second start was a lot better. We won the game, so it was awesome.”
Steele is earning a reputation as a steady Canadian performer along the defensive line and he gives his linemates plenty of credit.
“It’s pretty special,” said Steele.
“Our D line is so deep in talent. Not just the starters, but the guys who come in as reserves. We have ballers right across the board. That makes us play better.”
“We’re pretty competitive and we love to get at the quarterback. When one guy like Odell gets after the quarterback, it fires up the rest of us in a competition to see who can get there the fastest.”
“We did lose some guys, but the core is still there. Same as with the offensive line. As far as the trenches go, we have our core and nucleus on both sides of the ball. I think we’ll surprise a lot of people with how strong we’ll come out.”
