| No. 70 | |||||||||
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| Position | Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1961-01-27)January 27, 1961 (age 65) Burr, Nebraska, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 275 lb (125 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Sterling (NE) | ||||||||
| College | Nebraska | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1984: 1st round,2nd overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Dean Elmer Steinkuhler (born January 27, 1961) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aguard in theNational Football League (NFL) for eight seasons in the 1980s and 1990s. He playedcollege football for theNebraska Cornhuskers and was recognized as anAll-American. Steinkuhler was selected by theHouston Oilers in the first round of the1984 NFL draft.
Steinkuhler attended theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he won theOutland Trophy as the nation's topoffensive lineman in 1983. It was the third consecutive year an NU lineman won the award, asDave Rimington won back-to-back Outland Trophies in 1981 and 1982. Steinkuhler also won theLombardi Award in 1983, marking the second consecutive year a Nebraska player had won that award as Rimington had also won the Lombardi in 1982.Nebraska is the only team that has had consecutive winners of both of these awards. Steinkuhler is one of eight Nebraska winners of the Outland Trophy and one of five Nebraska winners of the Lombardi Award. Nebraska players have won nine Outland Trophys overall, by far the most in the nation. Oklahoma has the second most with four. Steinkuhler, along with fellow Nebraska CornhuskersRich Glover, Dave Rimington andNdamukong Suh, is one of only 13 players to have won both the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award.
In 1999 Steinkuhler was selected to the Nebraska All-Century Football Team via fan poll and was named to the All-Century Nebraska football team byGannett News Service. He is one of only 16 Cornhuskers to have his jersey (#71) retired by the team. Steinkuhler is also remembered for being the player who picked up quarterbackTurner Gill's intentional fumble in the1984 Orange Bowl and ran it 19 yards for a touchdown in a play dubbed the "Fumblerooski".
In 1999, Steinkuhler was selected as a third-team offensive guard bySports Illustrated in their "NCAA Football All-Century Team". The starters wereJim Parker of Ohio State andJohn Hannah of Alabama, the second-team consisted ofBob Suffridge of Tennessee andBill Fischer of Notre Dame and the other third-team player wasAaron Taylor of Nebraska. Steinkuhler was one of six Nebraska Cornhuskers on this All-Century Team 85-man roster; the others being Glover,Johnny Rodgers, Rimington,Tommie Frazier and Taylor.
In 1999, Steinkuhler was selected as an offensive guard to theWalter Camp Football Foundation College Football All Century Team. The other offensive guards selected were John Hannah of Alabama, Aaron Taylor of Nebraska,Brad Budde of USC,Will Shields of Nebraska and Jim Parker of Ohio State. Steinkuhler was one of six Nebraska Cornhuskers selected to this team; the others being Rodgers, Rimington, Shields, Frazier and Taylor.
Steinkuhler is one of 54 players and one of five Cornhuskers named to both the Sports Illustrated and Walter Camp All-Century teams.
Steinkuhler was the second overall pick in the first round of the1984 NFL draft, taken by theHouston Oilers.[1] He was an Oilers co-rookie of the year. Steinkuhler played both offensive guard and offensive tackle with the Oilers after playing solely offensive guard in college. He played eight seasons with the Oilers (some of those alongside fellow former Husker teammateMike Rozier) before retiring in 1991.[2]
Steinkuhler hailed fromBurr, Nebraska, which, according to the 2000 census, has a population of just 66 people. It is thought to be the smallest town to ever produce an All-American. He played both eight-man and eleven-man football at nearbySterling High School. Steinkuhler's sons, Ty and Baker, have followed in his footsteps. Both are defensive tackles, and both graduated from Nebraska. They played atLincoln Southwest High School andSyracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School.