Sage Steele is one of ESPN’s most popular and respected commentators, currently serving as the lead host for “SportsCenter on the Road.” On Monday, April 17, she will present “Choosing the Harder Right” at 7 p.m., in Cone University Center, McKnight Hall. The Campus Activities Board (CAB) is sponsoring this free, public event.
Steele, who joined ESPN in 2007, served as a regular anchor for “SportsCenter,” the network’s flagship news and information program, until 2013. She also hosted the Scripps National Spelling Bee from 2010-13. In addition to “SportsCenter,” Steele has contributed to “First Take” and “Mike & Mike” and has been a guest co-host of ESPN2’s “Sportsnation.” Steele’s lead role for “SportsCenter on the Road” includes onsite, daylong and pre-event coverage for the biggest sports events of the year, including the Super Bowl, World Series, the Masters, the College Football National Championship and much more.
In her April 17 presentation, Steele will discuss some of her personal failures and how she pushed through them, relying upon a line from the U.S. Military Cadet Prayer: “Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half-truth when the whole can be won.” Steele’s father graduated from West Point in 1970, and Steele has been quoted as saying she and her brothers had to memorize that portion of the prayer growing up.
Steele began her television career at WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana, as a producer and reporter (1995-97). She then moved to WISH-TV in Indianapolis, where she was the beat reporter for the Indianapolis Colts, in addition to covering the 1997 NCAA Men’s Final Four, NASCAR and the Izod IndyCar Series. Later, she joined Fox Sports Net in Tampa as a reporter and covered Super Bowl XXXV for the 2000-01 NFL season. She anchored the flagship show “SportsNite” for six years and was a beat reporter for the Baltimore Ravens from 2001-05, hosting a magazine show for all five seasons.
Steele graduated from Indiana University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Communications. In her spare time, Steele volunteers with the Pat Tillman Foundation and is passionate about working alongside military veterans.