Early life
A native of Hastings, Florida, Steward attended Pedro Menendez High School in St. Augustine, Florida, where he was coached by Keith Cromwell. On mediocre 5–6 and 5–7 teams, respectively, in his junior and senior years, Steward was an all-state selection at linebacker. As a senior, he had 81 tackles and five sacks and scored 10 touchdowns on offense. Following his senior year, he received a nomination to the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. [3]
Regarded as a five-star recruit by Rivals.com , Steward was ranked as the No. 1 outside linebacker prospect in his class. [4] Recruited by virtually every school in the country, he took official visits to UCLA, Clemson University, and Florida State. On National Signing Day 2011, Steward announced his decision to attend Clemson University. [5]
College career
As a true freshman at Clemson University, Steward played a back-up role and had five tackles in 36 snaps over five games. On October 18, 2011, after tearing his ACL a year prior in his senior year of high school. Steward tore his ACL for the second time in his career while at practice and would miss the rest of the 2011 season. [6] [7]
In 2012, Steward returned from injury and was a back-up to senior Jonathan Willard at weakside linebacker, and saw action on special teams. Appearing in all 13 games, Steward had 26 tackles, 16 of which were unassisted.
In 2013, Steward recorded 37 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one quarterback pressure, one pass breakup and one forced fumble in 167 snaps over 13 games. Steward was again mainly used as a special teams player and back-up linebacker.
In 2014, Steward finally became a starting linebacker. In his senior year he recorded 73 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, a team-high 13 quarterback pressures and one pass breakup in 495 snaps over 12 games (12 starts). In a game against South Carolina he was named co-defensive player-of-the-game after recording seven tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and two quarterback pressures. [8]
Ultimately, Steward had a solid but unspectacular college career. Never reaching the sky high expectations placed on him after arriving at Clemson as the No. 7 overall player in the country and the No. 1 outside linebacker prospect in the class of 2011. [9] [10]
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