BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Arthur Steinmetz
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Tragedy again struck Covington Catholic High School on Sunday when a former standout football player was one of two people killed in a traffic accident in southern Kentucky.
Sunday's accident marked the second fatality in three years involving a former CovCath football player.
Arthur "Artie" Steinmetz, 19, of Edgewood, and his roommate, Christopher Brock, 21, of Hyden, Ky., were killed in a one-vehicle accident at 6:58 a.m. Both men, students at the University of Kentucky, were passengers in a southbound pickup driven by UK center Jason Watts on U.S. 27, about 10 miles north of Somerset. Mr. Watts, a three-year starter, was in fair condition Sunday. The three students were on their way to a deer-hunting trip when their pickup overturned, Pulaski County Sheriff Sam Catron said.
"He was a wonderful kid. He will be remembered for a long time, hopefully. It was just a sad tragedy that God had to take him," Artie's mother, Therese Steinmetz, said Sunday.
The Most Rev. Robert Muench, bishop of the Diocese of Covington, was shocked when told of Mr. Steinmetz's death.
"Artie was just bigger than life. Lots of people, of course, knew him because he was such a good football player. But he was a gentle giant. He was a person with a real sense of destiny," Bishop Muench said.
"I will always remember him very fondly because he was a very approachable student, very friendly, very kind, very gentle."
Mr. Steinmetz, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound 1997 CovCath graduate, was a Kentucky Associated Press first-team defensive lineman as a senior in 1997. He was sitting out this season at UK, after transferring from Michigan State. He was paying his own way this year but was expected to be on scholarship next fall and would have been eligible to play three more seasons. Mr. Brock was not a football player.
CovCath Principal Jack Kennevan said Mr. Steinmetz "was just a smart young man. We were very proud that he made Division I football. He was just so welcoming."
Said CovCath head football Coach Lynn Ray: "He's the best defensive tackle I've ever coached. He was such a joy to coach because he came to practice every day. He came to practice with a willingness to get better and looking forward to that challenge. He was an outstanding individual. He always had a smile on his face."
Sheriff Catron said all three men, who were not wearing seat belts, were ejected from the pickup.
In 1995, CovCath star football player Mike Caple passed out in the back of a van on the way home from a football game and died of a breathing problem.
Sunday's news hit the campus as UK was gearing up for its first bowl game since 1993.
Tony Neely, media relations director - football, said UK coach Hal Mumme and other coaches would speak with players during a regularly scheduled meeting today.
During a news conference Sunday in Lexington, director of athletics C.M. Newton, said he spent considerable time with Coach Mumme after the accident.
"Hal is really struggling with this," Mr. Newton said. "He asked that I ask for your understanding in his not being with you today. He felt that he could not do this properly today, and he needed more time. This tragedy really puts bowl games, winning seasons, and a big game with an archrival into a whole different perspective."
Mr. Newton said the coaches have asked the Rev. Mike Breaux, pastor at Southland Christian Church, to meet with the team at today's meeting.
