INDIANAPOLIS — Sage Steele is on stage under the bright lights telling an awful story of a racist incident she faced in 1989 as a senior at Carmel High School.
Walking to home economics class, four boys started coming toward her, she thought one of those boys was her friend.
Steele was a self-proclaimed dork with really bad hair and a dream to one day be a sportscaster for ESPN. She was nice to everyone, and 99% of those students were nice right back to her. But as those boys came up to her, Steele said she couldn’t understand what was happening, why they were saying these terrible things.
“For the first time in my life, I was told to go back to where I came from. Go back to Africa,” Steele, 53, told a crowd of thousands Saturday at the Life Surge event in Indy. “The N-word was screamed quite clearly and loudly in my face from these four boys, one of whom I thought was my friend. I’d never had anyone call me that until I got to Carmel.”
Steele was a military kid who’d moved all over the country. She didn’t come to Carmel until her senior year, and that was a life-changing moment for Steele, especially when she gathered up the courage to go to the principal with her mom and tell him what happened.
“We walked in, told him the whole story, and he looked at me, and he said, ‘I don’t believe you.’ He told me and my mother that I made it up,” Steele says. “I remember walking out just feeling so defeated. For the principal to call me a liar. So, it changed me. I’m walking around the school for the next couple of weeks, head down.”
Then came this savior for Steele in the form of a German teacher she’d never met before who pulled her aside and into her classroom.
“And she goes, ‘Listen, I heard what happened. I’m so sorry, but let me tell you something,'” Steele says. “‘Just by you being here, you are doing more for Carmel High School and these kids, who haven’t seen a lot of the world, than we can ever do for you. Stay strong. Stand tall. Don’t let them break you.’
“In a tough moment, I lost a little bit of that fear. My chin came up a little bit and I’m like, ‘OK, I can do this.'”
That incident and Ms. Kim never left Steele, she says. She faced and overcame her fears many times after that, but none more than in 2023, when she made the biggest decision of her life — to leave her dream job at ESPN.
‘I have zero regrets’
The network had been Steele’s goal from the time she was 11 years old, when she told her parents, quite adamantly, that she wanted to be a sportscaster.
“It was always about ESPN and getting there,” Steele says. In 2007 that dream came true when Steele was hired as SportsCenter anchor, a job that for the next 14 years felt surreal.
Steele covered everything, NBA Finals, Super Bowls, the Masters. She hosted the Miss America pageant, the National Spelling Bee and sat with troops on Veteran’s Day at Arlington National Cemetery.
“I got to do more than I ever dreamt of, and it was the best,” Steele says. “I have zero regrets, even though it didn’t end the way I wanted it to end, for sure.”
That end technically started in 2021 when ESPN, owned by Disney, issued a COVID vaccine mandate for employees, who had until Sept. 30, 2021 to comply, or they would be fired.
“I struggled. I didn’t like it. I’m not a scientist but a Google search told me, usually, it takes six to nine years for a vaccine to be approved. And that’s a couple of months,” Steele says. “And I didn’t like it.”
But Steele was recently single with three kids, one in college and two on their way.
“I made the decision that I thought was best at the time, which was to comply, but I fought it. I was angry,” she says. “And as soon as I got that shot to keep my job … I knew in my gut it was wrong.”
Later that day, Steele joined former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler for his podcast “Uncut with Jay Cutler.” When he noticed a bandage on her arm, Steele told Cutler she had just received a vaccine shot.
“And I just said, ‘Listen, I think it’s sick, and I think it’s scary for any employer to tell anyone what to do with their bodies,” Steele said Saturday. “My body, my choice, right? I guess it depends. And at that moment, it changed me forever. When I said that, I was being honest about it. I don’t agree, I think it’s wrong, but I complied.”
Steele was pulled off the air within minutes, suspended for almost two weeks and forced to give a national apology for criticizing ESPN. She had assignments taken away for months and months, Steele says.
“I’m being told I’m getting death threats, literally, to me. People said they want to rape my daughters because of my opinions,” Steele says. “I mean, true, real threats. Just for saying what I felt.”
Steele said the fear, at first, won out. She needed this job, so she went back to work. Then she started noticing a double standard when it came to politics at ESPN, she says.
“You keep that crap separate. That’s what I thought, that’s what I believed, that’s what I was told, and that’s how I lived,” Steele says. “So, for my peers, then, to be able to go on ESPN airwaves and talk about things like why they’re upset that Roe vs. Wade was overturned during an NBA show or an alleged, ‘Don’t say gay’ bill on women’s college basketball. So which one is it? Are we allowed to talk about those things on our airwaves or not?”
Steele started talking to people and thinking about the way ESPN had treated her for simply giving an opinion on a podcast that had nothing to do with the network.
“And I decided that I had to stand up for myself. And it broke my heart to have to stand up in that way to this company that I adored and loved and was so proud to be a part of. But I knew it was bigger than me.”
Steele sued the company, settled out of court, left ESPN in August 2023 and now hosts “The Sage Steele Show” podcast. She also appears on Fox News and other political platforms.
What is Life Surge?
Steele was among a group of high-profile speakers at the Life Surge event at Corteva Coliseum on Saturday, which describes itself as a vision of hope that teaches people “why and how to create and multiply financial resources for Kingdom impact.”
IndyStar bought a ticket and attended Life Surge, which featured Tim Tebow, John C. Maxwell, Christine Caine, Natalie Grant and other motivational speakers, authors and guests.
“We believe that God’s people are often over-inspired and under-equipped — and that true transformation requires the equipping of His people,” the event says in its promotions. “As an inspirational and educational company, we are passionate about helping you achieve the mission God has placed on your heart and offer additional products and services to assist you on your journey.”
The event mostly focused on ways to create wealth and serve the kingdom of God, but as each speaker came on stage, a legal/professional advice disclaimer popped up on the screen.
“The information provided in this presentation is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial or professional advice. We are not attorneys or licensed CPAs. Always seek the guidance of a qualified professional for advice tailored to your specific situation.”
During breaks, attendees were encouraged to sign up for further financial courses from the company for a fee. The real estate course was offered for $97 for two people. There was worship music, audience dance-offs and prayers that ended with hundreds in the crowd giving their lives to God.
“It pretty much felt like a cool church service mixed with, I don’t know what, maybe like a financial seminar,” Brody Collins said Saturday. “I learned a lot, so I’m glad I came.”
Throughout the day, a right-leaning theme was present. Steele mentioned she didn’t agree with President Joe Biden. Real estate investor and speaker James Smith told the audience “The View” is like a full toilet that won’t flush and just keeps going around and around. He told attendees if they didn’t agree with him, they must watch CNN and lick the TV.
Tammy Powell walked out as Smith was on stage.
“I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it,” she said, laughing. She declined to elaborate.
‘We must choose the harder right’
As Steele finished her speech, she talked about how tough it was to sue the company she had always dreamed of working for, and had for the previous 16 years.
“(I was) so sad and heartbroken, but also so afraid,” Steele says. “All the fear came back again.”
Steele settled out of court with Disney, which she calls “a win.” “But I’ve got to tell you, it was never about money,” she says. “This was about principle.”
It all came back, really, to doing the tough thing when it wasn’t easy at all, Steele says, like her parents fighting discrimination all those years ago, and her doing the same in 1989.
She left the audience with the words from a cadet prayer her dad, a 1970 graduate of the United States Military at West Point, had her memorize.
Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and to never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won.
“We must choose the harder right. We must not have regrets. And throughout it all, we can do it with kindness and with grace,” Steele said as she closed her speech. “Thank you all. I miss you, Indiana.”
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Sage Steele reveals why she stood up to ESPN. It all started at Carmel High
Reporting by Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
