After the big screen shows the world the pride of Wheat Ridge this weekend, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter will help introduce the amazing story of Freddie Steinmark to Washington next Monday night.
Freddie Steinmark, an ex- Wheat Ridge star, cheers on his Texas team-mates during the 1970 Cotton Bowl. (Associated Press file photo)
Perlmutter, from Wheat Ridge, and Rep. Lamar Smith from Austin, Texas, will host a screening of the movie “My All American,” the inspirational story of how a Wheat Ridge High School and University of Texas football star became a national symbol that inspired the government’s increased investment in cancer research.
“Freddie is both a local hero and a national icon for his perseverance, resilience and contribution to our country,” Perlmutter said. “Freddie’s contributions helped inspire the National Cancer Act of 1971, and I hope his story continues to inspire our country and efforts to fund cancer research.”
Steinmark was an all-state football player and a in 1966, before making the University of Texas football team as a safety, despite being just 5-feet-9-inches tall and 160 pounds.
Spoiler alert: After playing on a hobbled leg in a 15-14 win over Arkansas that clinched the national championship for the Longhorns in 1969, Steinmark had an X-ray that revealed a malignant bone tumor above his knee. His leg was amputated at the hip, but just three weeks later he watched from sidelines as the Longhorns beat Notre Dame, 21-17, in the Cotton Bowl.
He died in June 1971, six months before President Nixon signed the National Cancer Act, which created the National Cancer Advisory Board and a separate budget for cancer research within the National Institutes of Health.
The movie is written and directed by , who wrote and produced two of sports’ greatest movie classics, “Rudy” and “Hoosiers.” It stars Finn Wittrock, best known as in “American Horror Story: Freakshow.” Wittrock bears a remarkable resemblance to Steinmark.
In , Wittrock said he talked to people who knew Steinmark.
“Everyone said, ‘He was the best guy I ever knew,’ Well, thatap not helpful,” Wittrock said. “How do you play that? So I tried to tap into the tenacity he had. He was very competitive, a fighter, and wrote a book called, ‘I Play to Win.’ I tried to tap into the motivation behind that: his Catholic faith and his determination.
“He was quietly religious, and when he faces the hardest challenge any of us could face, he faces it with the same kind of tenacity and grit. I just tried to find his humility.”
The Washington screening at the National Geographic Society’s Grosvenor Auditorium will also include Bower Yousse, “Freddie Steinmark: Faith, Family, Football.” Also expected is Dr. Douglas Lowy M.D., acting director of the National Cancer Institute.
