Steve Suter
Encyclopedia
Steve Suter is an American former football
player. He played as wide receiver
and return specialist
for the Maryland Terrapins
and also briefly played Canadian football
for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
. He gained fame for his explosive returning ability and elusiveness. Despite Suter's career being plagued and finally cut short by injuries, he set multiple NCAA, conference, and school records.
in Hampstead
, Maryland
, where he rushed for over 4,000 career yards. During his senior year in 1999, he rushed for 1,748 yards and 19 touchdowns. He was ranked #8 in the state of Maryland for rushing and named as a USA Today
honorable mention All-American, Prepstar all-region, first-team all-state, and Baltimore Sun All-Metro player.
status. In 2001, he saw minor action in the first four games before breaking an index finger.
In 2002, Suter played in all 14 games as a first-string slot receiver and started in the 2003 Peach Bowl as an X-receiver. Suter returned four punts for touchdowns: against Akron
(81 yards), West Virginia
(80 yards), Duke
(63 yards), and North Carolina
(77 yards). He was twice selected as the ACC
Specialist of the Week for his performances at Duke and North Carolina. On his second career carry, he scored on a 61-yard run against N.C. State and was named as the ACC Offensive Back of the Week. Against , Suter's career-first touchdown reception was from Scott McBrien
for 91 yards, which was one yard shy of the school record 92-yard reception set by Ed Bolton and Stan Lavine in 1949
. During the Peach Bowl against Tennessee
, he made his first career start as a receiver and returned a punt and shook four tackles to pick up 79-yards.
Suter set the NCAA records for single-season punt returns with 56 and kick returns with 78, and tied the NCAA record for punt return touchdowns. He fell just 20 yards short of an NCAA record for punt return yards. The Sporting News
and CNN Sports Illustrated named him to the All-American
second-team, and the conference named him to the All-ACC first-team as a return specialist.
In 2003, Suter started in 10 games and played in two more, much of the time battling a lateral meniscus
tear in his left knee. He returned two punts for touchdowns: against The Citadel he broke two tackles for a 75-yard score and in the 2004 Gator Bowl
he ran 77-yards for a touchdown against West Virginia. During that game, he also earned the number-one spot on the ESPN SportsCenter
"Play of the Day" feature, for a diving reception in which he tipped the ball before pulling it in as he fell to the ground in a tangle with cornerback Lance Frazier
. Suter was again named to the All-ACC first-team as a specialist in 2003. Suter also set records in the weight room: he broke the school's all-time wide receiver highs for strength index (768), squat
(580-lb), clean
(352-lb), and vertical jump
(42-in).
Suter had a solid, though not extraordinary, 2004 season during a down year for the Terps. He accumulated 270 receiving, 163 return, and 31 rushing yards. His drop-off in performance can be attributed to his knee injury in particular, which reduced his quickness. He broke the ACC record for career punt return yards with 1,271.
During his college career, Suter accumulated 10 touchdowns, six of which were on punt returns. He was one punt return touchdown shy of making the all-time NCAA record a four-way tie. He also suffered several injuries which required five surgeries, four of which were on his knees. Suter never fair caught
a ball, and said in 2002, "I don't see the need for fair catches ... If someone is in my face, I'll catch it and fall forward for 2 yards, and we've got 2 yards we didn't have if I had fair-caught it."
Sources:
. He attended the Washington Redskins
try-outs before signing as a free-agent for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
of the Canadian Football League
on 16 May 2005.
With the Tiger-Cats, Suter saw action in just two games. While in the CFL, he returned four kick-offs for 112 yards, four punts for 16 yards, and a missed field goal attempt for 20 yards. He injured his shoulder during the season-opener against the Montreal Alouettes
and subsequently missed the next five games. In his second game, he broke his collar bone against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
. After the 2006 training camp, he was released from the team due to his injuries.
. At the training camp, he is a wide receivers coach for youth and high school players. There, he works alongside former Maryland teammates Scott McBrien
and Scooter Monroe. The eponymous
football camp was founded by former quarterback McBrien who stated, "A lot of kids who aren’t necessarily that big [in size] or well known don't get looks from college coaches ... Lots of these kids have the talent to be very successful at the college level and we’re trying to promote that ... We’re trying to help kids in Steve [Suter]’s position."
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player. He played as wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
and return specialist
Return specialist
A Return Specialist is a player on American football or Canadian football special teams who specializes in returning punts and kickoff returns. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most play other positions as well. The special teams counterpart of a return specialist is a...
for the Maryland Terrapins
Maryland Terrapins football
The Maryland Terrapins football team represents the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision competition. The Terrapins compete within the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
and also briefly played Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
. He gained fame for his explosive returning ability and elusiveness. Despite Suter's career being plagued and finally cut short by injuries, he set multiple NCAA, conference, and school records.
Early years
Steve Suter was born to George and Lynn Suter. He attended North Carroll High SchoolNorth Carroll High School
North Carroll High is a high school located in Hampstead, Maryland, in Carroll County.North Carroll is located at 1400 Panther Drive. The school mascot is a panther, and the school colors are red, white, and black. The school is a part of the Carroll County Public Schools system...
in Hampstead
Hampstead, Maryland
Hampstead is a town in Carroll County in the U.S. state of Maryland. The population was 5,060 at the 2000 census. Hampstead School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.-Geography:Hampstead is located at ....
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, where he rushed for over 4,000 career yards. During his senior year in 1999, he rushed for 1,748 yards and 19 touchdowns. He was ranked #8 in the state of Maryland for rushing and named as a USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
honorable mention All-American, Prepstar all-region, first-team all-state, and Baltimore Sun All-Metro player.
College career
Suter spent his freshman year in 2000 on redshirtRedshirt (college sports)
Redshirt is a term used in American college athletics that refers to a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility...
status. In 2001, he saw minor action in the first four games before breaking an index finger.
In 2002, Suter played in all 14 games as a first-string slot receiver and started in the 2003 Peach Bowl as an X-receiver. Suter returned four punts for touchdowns: against Akron
Akron Zips football
The University of Akron Zips are a college football program representing the University of Akron that competes in NCAA Division I FBS Mid-American Conference football...
(81 yards), West Virginia
West Virginia Mountaineers football
The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University in the NCAA FBS division of college football. Dana Holgorsen is the team's 33rd head coach. He has held the position since he was promoted in June 2011 after the resignation of Bill Stewart. The Mountaineers play their...
(80 yards), Duke
Duke Blue Devils football
The Duke Blue Devils football program is a college football team that represents Duke University . The team is currently a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference , which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The Blue Devils compete in the Coastal...
(63 yards), and North Carolina
North Carolina Tar Heels football
The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in collegiate level football. In Carolina’s first 121 seasons of football competition, the Tar Heels have compiled a record of 646–488–54, a winning percentage of .566...
(77 yards). He was twice selected as the ACC
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
Specialist of the Week for his performances at Duke and North Carolina. On his second career carry, he scored on a 61-yard run against N.C. State and was named as the ACC Offensive Back of the Week. Against , Suter's career-first touchdown reception was from Scott McBrien
Scott McBrien
Scott McBrien is a former American football quarterback. He played football for several professional and college teams, most notably, the Green Bay Packers in the NFL, and the Maryland Terrapins at the University of Maryland.-Early years:McBrien was born in Rockville, Maryland to Ernie and...
for 91 yards, which was one yard shy of the school record 92-yard reception set by Ed Bolton and Stan Lavine in 1949
1949 Maryland Terrapins football team
The 1949 Maryland Terrapins football team represented the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association college football in its 29th season as a member of the Southern Conference. Jim Tatum served as the head coach for the third season of his nine-year tenure...
. During the Peach Bowl against Tennessee
Tennessee Volunteers football
The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....
, he made his first career start as a receiver and returned a punt and shook four tackles to pick up 79-yards.
Suter set the NCAA records for single-season punt returns with 56 and kick returns with 78, and tied the NCAA record for punt return touchdowns. He fell just 20 yards short of an NCAA record for punt return yards. The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
and CNN Sports Illustrated named him to the All-American
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
second-team, and the conference named him to the All-ACC first-team as a return specialist.
In 2003, Suter started in 10 games and played in two more, much of the time battling a lateral meniscus
Lateral meniscus
The lateral meniscus, also called the external semilunar fibrocartilage, is a fibrocartilaginous band that spans the lateral side of the interior of the knee joint. It is one of two menisci of the knee, the other being the medial meniscus. It is nearly circular and covers a larger portion of the...
tear in his left knee. He returned two punts for touchdowns: against The Citadel he broke two tackles for a 75-yard score and in the 2004 Gator Bowl
2004 Gator Bowl
The 2004 Gator Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Maryland Terrapins and the West Virginia Mountaineers at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on 1 January 2004...
he ran 77-yards for a touchdown against West Virginia. During that game, he also earned the number-one spot on the ESPN SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...
"Play of the Day" feature, for a diving reception in which he tipped the ball before pulling it in as he fell to the ground in a tangle with cornerback Lance Frazier
Lance Frazier
Elance "Lance" Frazier is an American Canadian football safety for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League, as well as a Wide Receiver / Defensive Back for the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League...
. Suter was again named to the All-ACC first-team as a specialist in 2003. Suter also set records in the weight room: he broke the school's all-time wide receiver highs for strength index (768), squat
Squat (exercise)
In strength training, the squat is a compound, full body exercise that trains primarily the muscles of the thighs, hips and buttocks, quads , hamstrings, as well as strengthening the bones, ligaments and insertion of the tendons throughout the lower body...
(580-lb), clean
Clean and jerk
The clean and jerk is one of the two Olympic weightlifting events .The clean portion of the lift refers to the lifter explosively pulling the weight from the floor to a racked position across deltoids and clavicles...
(352-lb), and vertical jump
Vertical jump
A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of raising one's center of gravity higher in the vertical plane solely with the use of one's own muscles; it is a measure of how high an individual or athlete can elevate off the ground from a standstill.-Types of vertical jump:The vertical jump is...
(42-in).
Suter had a solid, though not extraordinary, 2004 season during a down year for the Terps. He accumulated 270 receiving, 163 return, and 31 rushing yards. His drop-off in performance can be attributed to his knee injury in particular, which reduced his quickness. He broke the ACC record for career punt return yards with 1,271.
During his college career, Suter accumulated 10 touchdowns, six of which were on punt returns. He was one punt return touchdown shy of making the all-time NCAA record a four-way tie. He also suffered several injuries which required five surgeries, four of which were on his knees. Suter never fair caught
Fair catch
A fair catch is a feature of American football and several other codes of football, in which a player attempting to catch a ball kicked by the opposing team – either on a kickoff or punt – is entitled to catch the ball without interference from any member of the kicking team...
a ball, and said in 2002, "I don't see the need for fair catches ... If someone is in my face, I'll catch it and fall forward for 2 yards, and we've got 2 yards we didn't have if I had fair-caught it."
Statistics
| Maryland | Receiving | Rushing | Returning | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lg | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | Lg | TD | Punt | Yds | Lg | TD | Kick | Yds | Lg | TD | |||
| 2001 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | 14 | 17 | 303 | 17.8 | 91 | 2 | 5 | 82 | 16.4 | 64 | 1 | 56 | 771 | 81 | 4 | 22 | 546 | 58 | 0 | |||
| 2003 | 12 | 29 | 471 | 16.2 | 45 | 1 | 7 | 58 | 8.3 | 24 | 0 | 37 | 334 | 76 | 2 | 15 | 351 | 67 | 0 | |||
| 2004 | 9 | 23 | 270 | 11.7 | 43 | 0 | 5 | 31 | 6.2 | 15 | 0 | 27 | 163 | 36 | 0 | 15 | 362 | 52 | 0 | |||
| Career | 39 | 69 | 1,044 | 15.1 | 91 | 3 | 17 | 171 | 10.1 | 64 | 1 | 121 | 1,271 | 81 | 6 | 52 | 1,259 | 67 | 0 | |||
Sources:
Professional career
Undersized even for college football, Suter was passed over in the 2005 NFL Draft2005 NFL Draft
The 2005 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also held an supplemental draft that year, which was held after...
. He attended the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
try-outs before signing as a free-agent for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
on 16 May 2005.
With the Tiger-Cats, Suter saw action in just two games. While in the CFL, he returned four kick-offs for 112 yards, four punts for 16 yards, and a missed field goal attempt for 20 yards. He injured his shoulder during the season-opener against the Montreal Alouettes
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...
and subsequently missed the next five games. In his second game, he broke his collar bone against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...
. After the 2006 training camp, he was released from the team due to his injuries.
Coaching career
After the end of his playing career, Suter returned home and took a job at the Scott McBrien Passing Academy in Rockville, MarylandRockville, Maryland
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
. At the training camp, he is a wide receivers coach for youth and high school players. There, he works alongside former Maryland teammates Scott McBrien
Scott McBrien
Scott McBrien is a former American football quarterback. He played football for several professional and college teams, most notably, the Green Bay Packers in the NFL, and the Maryland Terrapins at the University of Maryland.-Early years:McBrien was born in Rockville, Maryland to Ernie and...
and Scooter Monroe. The eponymous
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
football camp was founded by former quarterback McBrien who stated, "A lot of kids who aren’t necessarily that big [in size] or well known don't get looks from college coaches ... Lots of these kids have the talent to be very successful at the college level and we’re trying to promote that ... We’re trying to help kids in Steve [Suter]’s position."