Steve Streater memories?

Steve died earlier this year. Any memories of his HS baseball days? He was a machine they say.

 

...Wasn't he the guy that played DB for UNC around , oh , 1980ish that was put in a wheelchair making a tackle in a game?

God bless him.

Fish

 

The N&O's Matt Ehlers reported recently on the life and death of former UNC football player Steve Streater, who was paralyzed in a car wreck in 1981 after signing a contract with the Washington Redskins. As a Carolina student, Steater lived hard, on and off the field. "Steve was just a full-speed guy," said teammate Bobby Cale. Ehlers reported that Streater started a fashion trend among his fellow defensive backs, encouraging them to wear gloves on their hands and elbow pads on their knees.

At age 22, he was paralyzed, unable to use his legs. For the most part, Streater's personality didn't change. Among other things, he coached a semi-pro football team and coordinated the state's Students Against Drunk Driving program (Streater was sober when he wrecked near the Raleigh-Durham Airport). "Steve lived life like we always think we should," said his brother, Eric Streater.

 

Steve Streater: In 1977, he pitched every game!

When Sylva-Webster won the 3A State Championship in 1977, Steve Streater's pitching record was 23-1, the same record as the team. Streater pitched every game! His high school coach took alot of heat for this:He was accused of ruining his arm. Boy, things sure have changed since then.
Streater was National High School Player of the Year in baseball in 1977.
He holds many state records:61 career wins, 23 wins in 1 season, etc.
He had 228 strikeouts in 1977.

 

Fond memories

I went to Carolina with Steve. We were friends due to our involvement with athletics. He was a magnetic personality and one of those people who made your day better with his presence. I had not thought of him in quite some time. I knew about his accident but did not know he had passed. He will always be a fond memory of my time at UNC.

 

No memories of Streater in high school but a lot of memories of his brother Jimmy, who was a heck of a baseball player and quarterback at the University of Tennessee when I was there. Jimmy probably did not weigh more than 160 lbs but he had a strong arm and was as quick as a cat. He had the misfortune of quarterbacking at UT when the talent level was down at the start of Johnny Major's return to coach UT. Jimmy played in Canada after UT but he develop an addiction to drugs that ruined his family life, became a diabetic, did not take care of himself, lost a leg to complications of the disease, ended up his last few years living in a nursing home and died a couple of years ago. That family had some tough times.

 

I was a manager on the UNC team's that Streater played for. An excellent defensive back. He also handled the punting duties and was a real weapon punting due to his atleticism. The 1980 and 1981 defenses were just unreal. Lawrence Taylor, Donnell Thompson, Mike Wilcher and Streater all signed NFL contracts and other than Streater all had great pro careers. We were all in shock when Streater got paralyzed. I also worked in Raleigh for a few years after college and ran into Steve several times. I was always struck by how he was making a positive out of his situation, as bad as it may have been.