Gold Jacket Spotlight: Steve Atwater’s journey from Penrose Park to George Halas Drive
Gold Jacket Spotlight
Published on : 1/29/2024
STEVE ATWATER vividly remembered his introduction to playing football in a “Road to Canton” documentary.
“My dad came out of the house and said, ‘Hey, come on, let’s go for a ride,’ ” Steve recalled. “We wound up at this park in St. Louis, Penrose Park. I got out of the car, (saw) groups of kids, playing football in different groups and throwing the ball and singing these chants. I signed up the next day, and that was it.
“I have been playing football ever since that day.”
The journey from Penrose Park to Steve’s enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is charted this week in the Gold Jacket Spotlight.
After a successful athletic career at Lutheran North High School in St. Louis — earning a football scholarship offer to the University of Arkansas and McDonald’s All-America recognition in basketball — Steve was asked to consider a position change from quarterback.
“After like, the third day of practice, (Arkansas coach Ken Hatfield) caught me in the office and said, ‘If you stay at quarterback, it may be a while before you play. But if you move over to safety, I would like for you to travel with the team with us and get a chance to see the speed of the game, be in the locker room and all that good stuff.’ I said, ‘Yea, let’s do it.’ I was happy from that point on.”
Not only was Steve happy, but he also produced as a Razorback.
During his tenure at Arkansas, Steve collected 14 career interceptions — still a Razorbacks record — appeared in three postseason bowl games and was named All-Southwest Conference in 1986 and 1988. In 1998, he was added to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor.
“He’s like a quarterback playing in the secondary. He’s a great leader, a teammate you respect,” said Wayne Martin, a college teammate of Steve’s. “He’s a personable guy, a real smart guy. He’s so intense, a real hitter.”
The combination of the attributes Martin mentioned were instrumental in the Denver Broncos using their first selection in the 1989 NFL Draft to pick Steve — one of five future Pro Football Hall of Famers selected in the initial 20 picks in that draft.
Denver head coach Dan Reeves reviewed the pick to Football Digest in 1990, saying, “When we selected Steve, our main concern was to get someone who would come right up and support the run defense. He had to be a good cover guy, too. And he had to fit into what we wanted to do.”
Reeves’ decision paid early dividends as Steve certainly “fit in” and moreover later was named Football Digest’s Defensive Rookie of the Year.
“Steve’s certainly a dominating player, a great player. He’s really good against everything. I mean, he can come up and make the tackles against the run and he can play the pass,” said Wade Phillps, at that time the Broncos’ defensive coordinator. “Steve can play man and he can play zone and he can do anything else you want.”
“He looks like a man playing among boys,” added then-Denver secondary coach Charlie Waters. “We knew he’d be a great weapon for us the first time we saw him on film.”
Steve, nicknamed the “Smiling Assassin,” played 11 seasons in the NFL. Throughout his 164 games, he grabbed 24 interceptions, was selected to eight Pro Bowls and earned AP first-team All-Pro status in 1991 and 1992.
Named to the All-Decade team of the 1990s, Steve played in Super Bowls XXIV, XXXII and XXXIII, winning back-to-back Vince Lombardi Trophies in 1998 and 1999.
The journey from Penrose Park to a Gold Jacket culminated when Steve was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Centennial Class of 2020.
“My dad came out of the house and said, ‘Hey, come on, let’s go for a ride,’ ” Steve recalled. “We wound up at this park in St. Louis, Penrose Park. I got out of the car, (saw) groups of kids, playing football in different groups and throwing the ball and singing these chants. I signed up the next day, and that was it.
“I have been playing football ever since that day.”
The journey from Penrose Park to Steve’s enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is charted this week in the Gold Jacket Spotlight.
After a successful athletic career at Lutheran North High School in St. Louis — earning a football scholarship offer to the University of Arkansas and McDonald’s All-America recognition in basketball — Steve was asked to consider a position change from quarterback.
“After like, the third day of practice, (Arkansas coach Ken Hatfield) caught me in the office and said, ‘If you stay at quarterback, it may be a while before you play. But if you move over to safety, I would like for you to travel with the team with us and get a chance to see the speed of the game, be in the locker room and all that good stuff.’ I said, ‘Yea, let’s do it.’ I was happy from that point on.”
Not only was Steve happy, but he also produced as a Razorback.
During his tenure at Arkansas, Steve collected 14 career interceptions — still a Razorbacks record — appeared in three postseason bowl games and was named All-Southwest Conference in 1986 and 1988. In 1998, he was added to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor.
“He’s like a quarterback playing in the secondary. He’s a great leader, a teammate you respect,” said Wayne Martin, a college teammate of Steve’s. “He’s a personable guy, a real smart guy. He’s so intense, a real hitter.”
The combination of the attributes Martin mentioned were instrumental in the Denver Broncos using their first selection in the 1989 NFL Draft to pick Steve — one of five future Pro Football Hall of Famers selected in the initial 20 picks in that draft.
Denver head coach Dan Reeves reviewed the pick to Football Digest in 1990, saying, “When we selected Steve, our main concern was to get someone who would come right up and support the run defense. He had to be a good cover guy, too. And he had to fit into what we wanted to do.”
Reeves’ decision paid early dividends as Steve certainly “fit in” and moreover later was named Football Digest’s Defensive Rookie of the Year.
“Steve’s certainly a dominating player, a great player. He’s really good against everything. I mean, he can come up and make the tackles against the run and he can play the pass,” said Wade Phillps, at that time the Broncos’ defensive coordinator. “Steve can play man and he can play zone and he can do anything else you want.”
“He looks like a man playing among boys,” added then-Denver secondary coach Charlie Waters. “We knew he’d be a great weapon for us the first time we saw him on film.”
Steve, nicknamed the “Smiling Assassin,” played 11 seasons in the NFL. Throughout his 164 games, he grabbed 24 interceptions, was selected to eight Pro Bowls and earned AP first-team All-Pro status in 1991 and 1992.
Named to the All-Decade team of the 1990s, Steve played in Super Bowls XXIV, XXXII and XXXIII, winning back-to-back Vince Lombardi Trophies in 1998 and 1999.
The journey from Penrose Park to a Gold Jacket culminated when Steve was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Centennial Class of 2020.
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