SHERIDAN, Wyo. — Dane Steel really didn’t like playing guitar when he started in seventh grade.
“I didn’t like having to do what everyone else was doing and learn the chords and all that stuff,” Steel told MTN Sports.
So, he bailed on it for a while. But when Dane's grandfather passed away, his grandmother granted his acoustic guitar to Dane.
“And I didn’t really play it for a while … I wasn’t really sure," he said. "And then I taught myself with YouTube and stuff. So, I don’t know how to read music.”
Yet … here he is, the Sheridan (Wyo.) High School senior now polished enough to strum a handful of tunes.
“I don’t practice playing chords and stuff, but I can play quite a few songs," he said.
Believe it or not, self-taught guitar may be the least of Steel’s talents.
On the football field, he's absolutely dangerous on special teams, offense and defense. Steel recently helped the Sheridan Broncs win a third straight Class 4A state championship, and he’s Wyoming’s latest Gatorade Football Player of the Year.
Sweating through a heavy number of hours in the weight room and on the field ultimately culminated in a football offer at Montana State where the youngest brother is jacked to follow the footsteps of his older two — current MSU sophomore defensive back Brock and former Bobcat receiver Coy.
“I had always wanted to go there," he admitted. "It was just kind of a waiting game for me hoping that I was going to get something (offered)."
In the immediate moment, it’s all about wrestling. Entering last week, Steel was 37-0 competing between 175 pounds and 190. Just like in football, he’s chasing a third straight state title — this one individual. And he’s so competitive, he barely discusses his freshman wrestling finish.
“I took fourth at state," he said with a wry smile. "Lost to some upperclassmen … yeah."
Yeah, that clearly motivated him.
Steel gets a one-week breather after the wrestling season, then it’s straight into his fourth year of high school soccer as Wyoming plays a spring schedule.
Football coach Jeff Mowry wouldn’t be shocked if the bye week of sorts produces another acoustic song or two.
“You know, it’s just one of those things he figured out," Mowry said. "He says it’s not something he likes to do in front of people, so … a humble young man.”
But what happens when he masters the guitar? Might we see him as a front man someday on stage?
“I’m not a big singer and I don’t really like to do it in front of anyone," Steel said with a hearty, yet sheepish laugh. "So, I probably won’t be doing that.”
Considering all he's accomplishing, we’re not ruling it out.
