By Transcript Staff
Among the Winthrop fans who braved the elements to root on the Vikings on Thanksgiving Day against archrival Revere was WHS football great Steve Miles (WHS Class of 1952) who made the annual trek on the holiday from his home in Houston, Texas.
Miles, who played fullback and middle linebacker under head coach Ed MacFarland, led the 1951 Winthrop football team to its best-season ever to that point with an 8-1-1 record and a share of the Northeastern Conference title with Amesbury.
Miles set what was then a new WHS scoring record with 105 points, but was better known as a ferocious linebacker who was feared by opposing teams. Miles played college football at Cornell and led the Big Red to a victory over Syracuse which had a player by the name of Jimmy Brown. According to press reports at the time, Miles was assigned to shadow Brown –and tackled the future NFL great 17 times in Cornell’s 14-6 victory.
Miles, who was inducted into the Winthrop High Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1991, was recognized with an announcement over the PA system between the first and second periods.
“On hand for today’s game is WHS football great Steve Miles, from the WHS Class of 1952, who led the Winthrop football team to its first-ever co-championship of the Northeastern Conference in 1951. Steve set the scoring record for Winthrop that year with 105 points. He also was a ferocious middle linebacker, a position he played at Cornell University, where he once had the assignment of covering Syracuse great Jimmy Brown. In addition, Steve was an outstanding basketball player, leading Winthrop to an NEC title in 1952. He was elected to the first WHS Hall of Fame Class in 1991.”