Craig Joseph Steltz (born May 7, 1986) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

, earning consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 2007. He was selected by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the fourth round of the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

Early life

Steltz was born in

Metairie, Louisiana Metairie ( ) is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area. With a population of 143,507 in 2020, Metairie is ...

. He attended

Archbishop Rummel High School Archbishop Rummel High School is a Catholic secondary school for boys located in Metairie, a community in unincorporated Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. The school is named after Archbishop Joseph Rummel, a former Archbishop in the Archdiocese of ...

in Metairie, and was an honors graduate. He was originally a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

, but switched to safety in eighth grade. Steltz excelled as a safety and started one game on the

varsity team A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

during his freshman year, before becoming a full-time starter his sophomore year. He is the first player in school history to have his jersey retired. He wore #10 in high school. On April 25, 2008, Steltz's jersey was officially retired during a school-wide assembly in the Archbishop Rummel High School gymnasium. He was a first-team all-state safety in 2002 as a junior. Steltz has the reputation of a hard hitter who works diligently in the

weight room Strength training, also known as weight training or resistance training, is exercise designed to improve physical strength. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate techniques such as bodyweight exercises (e ...

. In his junior year of high school, he recorded 120

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

and nine

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

. Craig was again named a first-team 5A all-state safety in 2003 as a senior. Steltz was also named Louisiana Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year in 2003. He finished his senior year with 30 tackles and two sacks, despite suffering from two nagging injuries. He was a team captain who led a ferocious defensive unit that spearheaded the Raiders to an 8–2 district championship season and regional round playoff berth. This defensive unit has had seven players play Division-I

. Craig showed his versatility by returning punts and kickoffs and by playing

. On October 31, 2003, against district rival Jesuit High School, Steltz rushed for 170 yards in the second half on seven carries and scored three

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

and a

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion, two-point convert, or two-point attempt is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that ...

in the fourth quarter to lead the Raiders to a 38–27 victory.

Awards and honors

*2002 Louisiana All-State First-team *2003 Louisiana All-State First-team *2004 Rufus Award- given to the school's top athlete

College career

Steltz enrolled at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, where he played for the

LSU Tigers football The LSU Tigers football program, also known as the Fighting Tigers, represents Louisiana State University in college football. The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers, Tigers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athle ...

team from 2004 to 2007. During the 2004 season, Steltz saw limited playing time in only four games. In 2005, Steltz scored his first career touchdown on a blocked punt return against

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

. After providing valuable depth and starting six games during the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and 2006 seasons, Steltz finally became a starter for the 2007 season. He was a first-team All-SEC selection and was recognized as a consensus first-team

in 2007, receiving first-team All-America honors from the Associated Press, Football Writers Association of American (FWAA), Walter Camp Football Foundation, ''Sports Illustrated'', ESPN, CBS Sports, ''College Football News'', Rivals.com, and Scout.com. He was also named a

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athle ...

finalist.

Statistics

Awards and honors

*2007 ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' All-Spring Team *2007 Alvin Roy Fourth Quarter Award *2007 Mike Miley Leadership Award *2007 Louisiana Defensive Player of the Week (Aug 30 at Mississippi State)

2007 LSU Tigers football team The 2007 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship and the College football national championships in NCAA Division ...

*2007 SEC Defensive Player of the Week (Nov 17 vs. Ole Miss) *2007

Finalist *2007 All-SEC Coaches First-team *

2007 College Football All-America Team The 2007 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following All-American Teams: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, ''The Sporting News'', ''Spor ...

(first-team) by:

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit ...

, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'',

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

, ''

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis incl ...

'', Rivals.com, and Scout.com

Professional career

General Manager Jerry Angelo originally intended for Steltz to be the team's starting

free safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the American football positions#Defense, defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two var ...

for the

2009 NFL season The 2009 NFL season was the 90th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL). The 50th anniversary of the original eight charter members of the American Football League was celebrated during this season. The preseason started ...

. Instead, he began the season third on the depth chart at the position. He was a frequent contributor on the Bears' special teams unit. In the 2011 season, after injuries to Major Wright and Chris Conte, Steltz became a valuable contributor to the defense, recording 38 tackles, behind

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

ers

Brian Urlacher Brian Urlacher (; born May 25, 1978) is an American former professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the New Mexico Lobos, earning co ...

, who has 92, and

Lance Briggs Lance Marell Briggs (born November 12, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arizona Wildcats and was select ...

, who has 100. Steltz also finished fourth on the Bears with 12 special-team tackles. In 2012, Steltz was resigned to a 2-year contract, being the fifth Bears player to sign with the team, with Tim Jennings,

Josh McCown Joshua Treadwell McCown (born July 4, 1979) is an American professional American football, football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college foo ...

Kellen Davis Kellen M. Davis (born October 11, 1985) is an American former professional football tight end. He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL draft. He played college football at Michigan State. College career Davis was ...

and

Israel Idonije Israel Idonije (born November 17, 1980) is a Nigerian-Canadian former professional football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) and actor. Idonije played CIS football at the University of Manitoba. A draft pick of the now defun ...

being the first four. Steltz was placed on injured reserve on December 11 after an injury in Week 14. Steltz was released on August 25, 2014.

References

External links

Chicago Bears bio

LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steltz, Craig 1986 births Living people All-American college football players American football safeties Chicago Bears players LSU Tigers football players Players of American football from New Orleans Archbishop Rummel High School alumni