Ben Munaweera is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mesa High School for AZPreps356.com

Mesa High School’s Andrew Steiner knew from a very young age that football was the sport for him, and that nothing was going to stop him from playing it. 

Steiner has been playing sports, including football and basketball, since he was 4 years old. He loved watching football at a very young age as well as going outside to play catch with a ball. Because of that, he decided to give flag football a chance when he was 6 years old, then decided to play tackle football the ensuing season and didn’t look back. 

“I love competition, and football is a sport where there is competition between you and the person in front of you every play,” Steiner said.

Steiner always had support from his family when it came to playing football. His dad would take him outside and run drills together as well as coach him throughout his youth teams. While he described his mom as knowing little about the sport, Steiner noted how she was always very emotionally supportive and always there to cheer him on. 

Upon reaching high school, Steiner decided to play for the freshman football team and shined. He was poised to make the jump to the varsity team his sophomore year but a freak accident would strike in the off-season. 

Steiner was playing a pickup game of basketball and on the first possession of the game, he went for a layup and snapped the tibias in both of his legs when he jumped. It was a very rare occurrence. Steiner said the doctors told him they’d never seen that happen in both legs at the same time but it happened because his bones were growing faster than his tendons, so the tendons ripped the bones apart. 

They repaired the fractures with three screws in each of his legs. Steiner would be bed-bound for more than three months and endure a mentally and physically challenging recovery process. 

“It was miserable because I couldn’t do anything,” Steiner said. “I was going to physical therapy multiple times a week. I had to slowly learn how to walk again. It was a long process starting with just standing for 30 seconds.”

During his recovery process, Steiner didn’t have any fear of returning to football as all he wanted to do was just play again. 

“It was really hard in the beginning to think that I was going to miss a whole football season,” he said. “I slowly started to accept it and knew I had to come back strong and earn a starting job on varsity.”

The road to recovery was tough but Steiner is back playing football and is shining at the varsity level, Mesa coach Chad DeGrenier could not be more thrilled for him.

“I’m just so happy for him to be able to play, and the fact that he’s performing as well as he is, is awesome,” DeGrenier said. “He definitely deserves it. He’s a great kid, a hard worker, and I’m very proud of him.” 

In his debut varsity season at Mesa through seven weeks, Steiner has tallied 40 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, and two fumble recoveries. 

“He’s like a Swiss army knife,” coach Andrew Sheridan said, “I can line him up anywhere.”  

Steiner doesn’t take football for granted and loves the experience being a varsity football player at Mesa. 

“It’s always a good atmosphere,” he said. “Every player pushes each other to be better, coaches are very helpful with football and anything off the field too. If I ever need anything, I know I can turn to my teammates and coaches.” 

After high school, Steiner would love to go to his dream school Notre Dame, and pursue a career in medicine. However, he would also take any chance to continue playing football no matter what.

After his ordeal, what is Steiner’s advice to future athletes?

“Be all in on the things you love to do,” he said.