Sage Marie Steele (born November 28, 1972) is an American

television anchor A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

who is the co-host of the 12pm (ET)

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and of ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. She also hosts SportsCenter on the Road from various sporting events such as the Super Bowl and The Masters. Steele formerly hosted '' NBA Countdown'' on

and ABC for four seasons, ending in 2017. For five years prior to the NBA assignment, Steele was a full-time host of ''

'', ESPN's flagship show, and had previously contributed to '' ESPN First Take'', ''

Mike & Mike in the Morning ''Mike & Mike'' (formerly ''Mike and Mike in the Morning'') was an American sports-talk radio show that was hosted by Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic on ESPN networks from 2000–2017. The show aired on ESPN Radio, and was simulcast on televis ...

'', and '' SportsNation''. Steele hosted ''SportsCenter''s daytime coverage of the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is aw ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

, and covered every NBA Finals from 2012 to 2020.

Early life

Steele is the daughter of Gary & Mona (O'Neil) Steele. Her dad is American and her mom is Irish-Italian. Gary is Black and became the first Black varsity football player at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

during the mid-1960s.Nerves of Steele
St. Petersburg Times, June 9, 2000 He was inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 for his standout career on the Black Knights football and track & field teams. Sage Steele was born in 1972 into an American

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

family living in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...

Steele has two brothers, Courtney and Chad (senior vice president of media relations for the NFL's

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

). The U.S. Army stationed Steele's family in several different states and countries, including

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, before moving back stateside to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1984 for her seventh grade year. After attending

Thomas B. Doherty High School Thomas B. Doherty High School, commonly referred to as Doherty High School (DHS), is a public high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. Established in 1975, it is the newest school in the Colorado Springs School District 11, servi ...

in Colorado Springs for two years, she moved to

Carmel, Indiana Carmel is a suburban city in Indiana immediately north of Indianapolis. With a population of 100,777, the city spans across Clay Township in Hamilton County, Indiana, and is bordered by the White River to the east; the Hamilton-Boone county ...

, and attended Carmel High School as a senior, graduating in 1990. She graduated from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest camp ...

in 1995 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in sports communication. Exactly 20 years later, she was the commencement speaker at the 2015 Indiana University undergraduate commencement, which she considers the greatest honor of her career.

Broadcasting career

Steele's first television sports reporting job was at WSBT-TV, the CBS affiliate in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

, as a news producer and reporter from 1995 to 1997. Steele then worked at CBS affiliate

WISH-TV WISH-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Marion-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23) and low-power, ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

, from 1997 to 1998 as the weekend morning sports anchor and weekday reporter. Her reporting duties included the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first est ...

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of India ...

and

Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 was an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Moto ...

auto races, and local college and high school sports. Steele worked at ABC affiliate

WFTS WFTS-TV (channel 28), branded as ABC Action News, is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company alongside Bradenton-licensed Ion Tele ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

, from 1998 to 2001, where she was a sports reporter with former

sports director and former ''

'' host Jay Crawford and current " NFL RedZone" host

Scott Hanson Scott Richard Hanson (born June 24, 1971) is an American television anchor and reporter for NFL Network. He has served as sports reporter and anchor for several regional stations and was hired by NFL Network in 2006. He is currently the host ...

. She also worked at Fox Sports Florida as a reporter, continuing to cover teams throughout Central Florida such as the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was estab ...

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

and

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

Bulls. She then worked at

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic NBC Sports Washington is an American regional sports network owned by Ted Leonsis's Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, the channel broadcasts regio ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which ...

, where she was an anchor and reporter for the network's nightly local sports news program, ''SportsNite'', covering all sports in the Washington, DC/Baltimore region. Steele was one of

Comcast SportsNet NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origin ...

's original personalities, joining that network when it launched in 2001. During her six years at CSN Mid-Atlantic (2001–2007), she was a main anchor and also the beat reporter for the

. Steele then joined

and debuted on March 16, 2007, on the 6:00 p.m. ET edition of ''SportsCenter''. In an interview with Awful Announcing, she mentioned that she was actually offered a job with the network in 2004, but turned it down while pregnant with her second child. On July 28, 2013, she drove the pace car for the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

Brickyard 400. During the pace laps at the beginning of the race, she was bumped in jest by 6-time Sprint Cup champion

Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...

. Beginning in the 2013–14 NBA season, Steele became the host of NBA Countdown on

and ABC through 2017. Steele co-hosted the

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

2017 & 2018 pageant on ABC with

Chris Harrison Christopher Bryan Harrison (born July 26, 1971) is an American television and game show host, best known for his role as the host of the ABC reality television dating show '' The Bachelor'' from 2002 to 2021. He also hosted its spin-offs '' T ...

. She hosted the

Scripps National Spelling Bee The Scripps National Spelling Bee (formerly the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and commonly called the National Spelling Bee) is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. The bee is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W. Scr ...

from 2010 to 2013. In 2014 she was a guest host several times on '' The View''. She became the noon (ET) ''SportsCenter'' co-anchor with

Matt Barrie Matt Barrie may refer to: * Matt Barrie (businessman) (born 1973), Australian technology entrepreneur *Matt Barrie (sportscaster) Matt Barrie is a sportscaster for ESPN's ''SportsCenter''. He joined the show in March 2013. Prior to joining E ...

in February 2021. She had anchored the 6 p.m. ET edition of the show for several years before moving to noon and prior to that she had anchored ''SportsCenter:AM.'' On October 5, 2021, she was suspended with pay by ESPN for remarks she made on Jay Cutler's September 29

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

about COVID-19 vaccine mandates, women who dress in a way she feels is provocative, and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

calling himself Black even though he, like Steele, has a white mother. In conjunction with her suspension, Steele issued an apology: "I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize. We are in the midst of an extremely challenging time that impacts all of us, and it's more critical than ever that we communicate constructively and thoughtfully."

Personal life

Steele married Jonathan Bailey and they have three children. In March 2021, Steele put her home in Avon, Conn., on the market for $1.6 million, after doing extensive renovations. She is on the board of the Pat Tillman Foundation. She was named to the board of the V Foundation for cancer research in 2019.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Sage Living people 1972 births American television sports announcers Carmel High School (Indiana) alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni Television anchors from Indianapolis Women sports announcers African-American sports journalists American women sportswriters ESPN people Disney people American sports journalists African-American Christians African-American television personalities African-American women journalists People from Colorado Springs, Colorado People from Carmel, Indiana American people of Irish descent American people of Italian descent Zonians American women television journalists American expatriates in Greece American expatriates in Belgium 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists American Christians 21st-century American women Panamanian people of American descent Panamanian people of Italian descent