Steve Atwater

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Steve Atwater
Date of birth	October 28, 1966
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois
Position(s)	Free Safety
College	Arkansas
NFL Draft	1989 / Round 1/ Pick 20
Pro Bowls	8
Honors	NFL 1990s All-Decade Team
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1989-1998 1999	Denver Broncos New York Jets

Stephen Dennis Atwater (born October 28, 1966 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former American football player who spent most of his career playing free safety for the Denver Broncos of the NFL.

1 Early life
2 College
3 Denver Broncos
4 New York Jets
5 External link

[edit] Early life

He attended Lutheran High School North in St. Louis, Missouri. Steve was a quarterback and free safety in high school.

[edit] College

Atwater signed with the University of Arkansas, where he moved to safety and where he was named to the All-Southwest Conference team three times and named as an All-American twice. Helping his stock as a pro prospect was his appearance in the Senior Bowl, where he logged two interceptions.

[edit] Denver Broncos

He was drafted out of the University of Arkansas by the Broncos with the 20th pick in the first round of the 1989 NFL Draft. During his ten seasons with the Denver Broncos, he was selected for the Pro Bowl eight times, the second most in franchise history. He played in seven straight Pro Bowl games 1990-1996, which tied the franchise record. Atwater, and fellow Broncos safety Dennis Smith formed one of the most feared safety tandems of their generation.

Steve started in all 155 games while he was with Denver, which ties for seventh in franchise history for games started. He also started in 14 post-season games. Of particular note was Super Bowl XXXII, where he posted one of the best performances ever by a safety in a Super Bowl. In that game, he is credited with six solo tackles, one sack, two passes defensed (one of which cemented Denver's victory) and a forced fumble.

Also of note was Steve's hit against Christian Okoye of the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football September 17, 1990. The audio of the hit was recorded and has been featured in numerous productions from NFL Films.

[edit] New York Jets

Steve left the Broncos after signing with the New York Jets as a free agent for his final season in 1999. He left as one of the most popular and loved Bronco players of the modern era. In his 11 NFL seasons, Atwater recorded 5 sacks and 24 interceptions, which he returned for 408 yards and a touchdown. He also recovered 8 fumbles and returned them for 42 yards.

On October 9, 2005, during a halftime ceremony, Steve's name was added to the Ring of Fame at Invesco Field at Mile High.