During those three years the Miners went 7-1-2, 7-1-1 and 7-1 respectively. That’s a total of 21 victories and only three losses.
Steele was the center on those three teams and played both offense and defense with a power and ferocity that earned him Southwestern All-Star honors all three of those years.
He has to be regarded as one of the greatest football linemen in the history of the school.
SO IT WAS good news to learn that Thad Steele will be inducted into the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame this year.
By the way, Steele also played catcher on the Miners’ baseball team. Yes, UTEP had a baseball team in those days, and he was outstanding in that sport, too. He was named to the All-Region team one year. Oh, yes, and he earned a letter in basketball two years, too. He was named UTEP’s “Best All-Around Athlete” during the 1930-31 and 1931-32 seasons.
THAD STEELE represents all that is good about sports. He went on to become a coach at Austin High School in 1934 before joining future UTEP coach Mike Brumbelow as assistant coach in Lufkin, Texas in 1935.
And he was a gentleman of the old school. “I never heard him use bad language,” his son, Thad Steele Jr., says.
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Thad Jr. has become a successful businessman, too. He’ll be accepting his father’s honor at the UTEP banquet.
And I plan to be there cheering. It’ll bring great memories of happy days of yore.
FOUR SPORTS are represented in the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame class of 2011. That includes a female rifle athlete, a men’s basketball player, a men’s track star, a football star and a football head coach. The inductees are, besides Thad Steele:
Soma Dutta, who transferred to UTEP from Texas Lutheran to become only the second female to win a NCAA championship in the rifle smallbore. The Bangladesh, India, native was a three-time All-American for the Miners during the 1990, 1991 and 1992 seasons and held the school record with a 1,171 score for eight years.
Obadele Thompson, a four-time NCAA champion during his four-year career with the track and field team. The Barbados native added his name to the illustrious list of track and field NCAA champions when he was crowned the 200-meter champion at the 1996 indoor meet.
Jim Forbes, a two-time All-WAC second team selection. Forbes recorded 20 double-doubles in 61 games played in his career and was part of the 1972 Olympic basketball team.
Coach Jack Curtice, whose football teams recorded a 24-13-3 record through four seasons. At the helm of the football program from 1946-1949, Curtice led the Miners to the program’s first ever Sun Bowl game victory with a 33-20 win over Georgetown on Jan. 2, 1950
THE UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame induction dinner will be held at the Larry K. Durham Center Hall of Champions on Friday, Oct. 28. The five inductees will also be honored during Saturday’s football game against Southern Mississippi University.
Individual tickets to the banquet are $25. Tables of eight are available for $200.
For more information contact the Miner Athletic Club at (915) 747-8759 or via e-mail at [ mailto:mac@utep.edu ]mac@utep.edu.