CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Boston College linebacker Bryce Steele’s journey back to the football field is one of resilience, courage and perseverance, and on Tuesday it earned national recognition.
 
Steele was named one of three recipients of college football’s 2025 Comeback Player of the Year Award, as announced by College Sports Communicators in association with The Associated Press (AP) and the Fiesta Bowl.
 
Already honored as the ACC’s 2025 Brian Piccolo Award recipient, presented annually to the league’s most courageous player, Steele returned to competition after missing the entire 2024 season while battling cancer. His comeback marked the latest chapter in a long and personal fight, one that first began in 2019 when he was diagnosed with a rare thymoma and underwent surgery to remove a 13-centimeter tumor near his heart during his high school recruitment process. Steele chose to keep the diagnosis private, overcame the disease, and went on to join the Boston College football program.
 
The battle resurfaced multiple times in the years that followed, requiring additional surgeries and eventually spreading to Steele’s chest wall. After an unsuccessful round of chemotherapy in 2023, Steele and his family opted for an alternative surgical path. Two months later, he was released from the hospital, cleared for non-contact activity, and began the arduous process of relearning how to walk and breathe due to diaphragm weakness. By August 2024, Steele achieved another milestone—medical clearance for full-contact football.
 
In 2025, Steele appeared in 11 games for the Eagles, recording 16 tackles, a fumble recovery, a quarterback hurry and a pass breakup.
 
Since 2018, the Comeback Player of the Year Award has recognized college football student-athletes who have overcome significant injury, illness or other life challenges. Each year, three recipients are selected through a vote by a panel of Associated Press college football writers and sports information directors. Steele and the other honorees will be recognized during an on-field ceremony on January 8, 2026, at the College Football Playoff Semifinal during the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.