Neal Steger of Sherwood gains strength, inspiration through memory of his late father

Steger is dedicating his senior football season to his dad, and it started with an amazing show of strength at the Metro Area Lineman Challenge

Neal Steger of Sherwood / Photo by Dan Brood

Neal Steger was looking strong on the bench press.

The Sherwood senior-to-be, surrounded by his Bowmen football teammates, was lifting the bar, which was carrying 185 pounds, over and over again.

With his teammates cheering him on, Steger was up to 18 lifts. He powered up lift No. 19. Then No. 20. He was slowing down on lift No. 21. He had to battle to get No. 22 up.

But he kept going.

No. 23 was a real challenge, but slowly, he got that bar up again. Surely, Steger had to be done at that point.

No.

Steger, inspired and motivated like no other, went for one final lift.

With his arms shaking, and with the cheers around him getting louder and louder, he struggled, but undeterred, he got lift No. 24 up.

Soon, with the bar put on the rack, Steger would sit up, get a smile and accept congratulations from his fellow Bowmen.

“It’s going good,” Steger said during the Metro Area Lineman Challenge, a competition which featured such events as the 40-yard dash, shuttle run, vertical jump, standing broad jump, bench press, farmer’s carry, tractor tire flip, two-man blocking sled relay and team tug-of-war, held Saturday under hot, sunny skies at Hare Field in Hillsboro.

Neal Steger of Sherwood / Photo by Dan Brood

Steger is coming off a strong junior football season at Sherwood, where he helped the Bowmen win the Pacific Conference title at 5-0, finish 11-1 overall and reach the semifinal round of the Class 6A playoffs. He earned all-Pacific Conference honorable mention accolades at offensive tackle and as a defensive lineman, where he had three sacks during regular-season play.

The 6-foot-2, 235-pound Steger, who boasts a 4.14 grade-point-average, smiles again as he talks about the outlook for the Bowmen for the upcoming 2024 campaign.

“I know we’ve graduated a lot of seniors, but we have good leadership in our class, and we’re ready to bring it,” he said. “We’re looking very good. We’ve got a real strong quarterback room. Jackson Bell is looking really good. Wilson Medina, he’s coming back strong for his senior year. He’s shaking things up. We have a great offensive line. I think we have people all across the board who can make stuff happen. We’ve got guys that are ready to step up every single day.”

There’s likely no one more inspired to step up absolutely every single day than Steger.

That overwhelming amount of inspiration comes from the most unfortunate of circumstances. Neal Steger, along with his older sister Abby and their mother Keara, lost their father and husband, Mark Steger, who passed away Feb. 28. He was 58.

“The biggest thing for me, with how I grew up, was losing my dad — he was my biggest inspiration. He was the champion of my life. I model how I treat others, and how I base myself, all off of him,” Neal Steger said.

“He was everything. He was a provider for our family. He was a symbol of hope and protection. It’s tragic to lose someone like that, being this young, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say he gave me the tools to navigate this life.”

Neal Steger has a definite tone of pride in his voice when he talks about his father.

“He was the healthiest guy I know. He lived healthier than anyone I know,” Steger said. “He’d go to the gym five days a week. He was a professional cyclist. He played Division II basketball at Montana State University in Billings. He played in the national semifinals in the Division II level.”

Pride — and inspiration.

“Even to this day, I wear his heart on my sleeve,” Steger said. “He’s my pride and joy. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him.”

“It was a real sad thing,” Sherwood assistant coach David Balfour said of Steger losing his father. “I’m just super happy that he’s kept going. There’s been no hitch; he’s just kept going, and that’s great. He’s been working so hard, and he’s gotten so much better.”

That showed at Saturday’s Metro Area Lineman Challenge.

“I’ve been building on a lot of my scores from last year,” said Steger, who improved from 18 bench presses a year ago to 24 this year. “I’m up 30-some pounds from last year. I set a (person record) on my vertical jump. I got 31 inches for that. I’m just pushing myself out here, and I’m doing the best I can.”

Neal Steger of Sherwood / Photo by Dan Brood

Steger finished third overall in the lightweight division while helping Sherwood earn the team championship.

He was driven to his impressive performance by the inspiration coming from his father. That inspiration likely will keep driving Steger on the gridiron for the Bowmen in the fall.

“I’m 100 percent playing for him,” Steger said. “He’s the reason I get up and the reason I do absolutely everything. It’s the reason I try to motivate my team. It’s because of him. I know what he really wanted was to see this season, and I want to make sure that his name lives on.”

— Dan Brood