WARSAW, Mo. — A football player for Warsaw has played varsity since he was a freshman, all while only having one eye.
Warsaw Junior Chase Steiner lost sight in his left eye in July of 2016 and eventually had the eye removed because of a BB gun accident while at a friends house.
“I was playing Xbox and he pulls this little pistol out of this part of the couch and he said hey look over and I looked over and he pulled the trigger and he shot me.” said Chase Steiner, the player with one eye.
The friend thought the BB gun was unloaded.
The doctors told Steiner that he wouldn’t be able to play football anymore, but that wasn’t going to hold him back, especially with help from his friends.
“I told them I wanted to play, and they told me well okay we are going to make it to where you can play. So we went out on the field and threw some balls and got my perception back to where I could catch a ball.” said Steiner.
And they also have his back underneath the lights.
“He doesn’t know his surroundings and we got to help him with our communication around him because he can’t always see what is around him.” said Clayton Simons, another football player on the team.
“Knowing where you are at on the field is a lot harder. Because with two eyes you can see fully around you without rotating your head all the way. But with one I have to constantly keep my head on a wheel.” said Steiner.
“It was never and issue at all, nobody brought it up and once we got out on the field and everything you’d never know anything different.” said Ryan Boyer, head coach for Warsaw.
Coaches and teammates say Steiner continues to inspire them.
“It would be so easy for any kid to just bow out and nobody would blame him. But for him to come out every day with a great attitude and go to work. It doesn’t matter if it is our offseason workouts or a game, he leads by example.” said Boyer.
“It feels good, prove to people that a small thing is not going to hold you back.” said Steiner. “Don’t give up just because people say you can’t. Break down the wall, and when it gets rebuilt break it down again and just keep going.”
