Dane Steel Of Sheridan High School Named 2023 WY Gatorade Football Player Of The Year

In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade announced Dane Steel of Sheridan High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Wyoming Football Player of the Year.

Steel is the eleventh Gatorade Wyoming Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Sheridan High School.

The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Steel as Wyoming’s best high school football player.

From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Emmitt Smith (1986-87, Escambia High School, Fla.), Peyton Manning (1993-94, Isidore Newman School, La.) and Jackson Arnold (2022-23, John H. Guyer High School, Texas).

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior receiver caught 44 passes for 970 yards and nine touchdowns this past season, averaging 22.7 yards per reception and leading the Broncs (12-0) to their third-consecutive 4A state championship.

Also a threat on the ground out of the Wildcat formation, Steel rushed 44 times for 368 yards and eight touchdowns.

He returned 23 punts for 488 yards and six scores along with four kickoff returns for 143 yards and a touchdown.

In the secondary, Steel made 35 tackles and recorded six interceptions, including two for a touchdown, in addition to blocking a kick and recovering two fumbles.

The 2023 Class 4A Offensive & Defensive Player of the Year and he is a two-time state wrestling champion at 152 pounds (two-time All-American) as well as a two-time All-State honoree in soccer.

A member of his school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter and a WHSAA Student Advisory Council member, Steel has volunteered as an adaptive physical education peer helper and on behalf of the Boy Scouts of America/WYO Rodeo Pancake Breakfast.

He has also donated his time to Broncs youth football and wrestling camps in addition to setting up and breaking down the annual Gold Buckle Club for Sheridan WYO Rodeo.

“Dane Steel is the kind of player every coach wants on his team,” said Natrona County head coach Steve Harshman, who led his team to the Class 4A semifinals this past season. “He comes from a lineage of hard workers, tough players and committed teammates. He’s the type of player that will make your team successful on and off the field, and he’s a good choice for Gatorade Player of the Year.”

Steel has maintained a 4.14 weighted GPA in the classroom.

He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play football on scholarship at Montana State University this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport.

The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.

Steel joins recent Gatorade Wyoming Football Players of the Year Colson Coon (2022-23 & 2021-22, Sheridan High School), Graedyn Buell (2020-21, Cheyenne East High School), and Garrett Coon (2019-20, Sheridan High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.

As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner.

To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600 organizations.