Sumith Prasad
In Angelo Pizzo’s biographical drama film ‘My All American,’ Linda Wheeler is the girlfriend of Freddie Steinmark, the football sensation who leads the Texas Longhorns to a national championship. Linda remains beside Freddie through thick and thin, especially when the latter learns that he has been diagnosed with malignant osteogenic sarcoma, a type of bone cancer. In reality, as the movie depicts, Linda was an unignorable part of Freddie’s life. He cherished his victories and shared his pain with Linda, who remained with him until his tragic death at the age of twenty-two. Linda eventually started a new chapter of her life after the football player passed away!
Who is Linda Wheeler?
Freddie Steinmark and Linda Wheeler met and got together as a couple while attending Wheat Ridge High School, a secondary school in Jefferson County, Colorado. Linda was elected as the prom queen at the school along with prom king Bobby Mitchell, one of Freddie’s closest friends and eventual teammate at the Texas Longhorns. When Freddie secured a spot in The University of Texas as a football player, Linda applied to the reputed Spanish department of the institution to be with her partner. By the time Freddie returned to Denver, Colorado, after completing one year at UT, his relationship with Linda was strong.
When Freddie was undergoing treatment in Texas, Linda often visited him. However, the uncertainty regarding his fate made the couple consider breaking up. “[…] in an act of fairness and equity to each other, Freddie and Linda ended their relationship. She felt a need to consider her future, and Freddie needed to consider his,” Bower Yousse and Thomas J. Cryan wrote in the biography ‘Freddie Steinmark: Faith, Family, Football.’ However, they eventually reconciled and even started thinking about getting married. It didn’t take long for them to get engaged as well. However, before they could proceed with their wedding, Freddie’s condition worsened.
When Freddie passed away on June 6, 1971, Linda was right near him. “At 10:58 p.m. Freddie exhaled for the last time and let go, freed finally from the cancer. Gloria [Freddie’s mother] was on one side of his bed, and Big Fred [Freddie’s father] and Loretta [Freddie’s cousin] were on the other. Linda was in her chair at the end of the bed,” reads Yousse and Cryan’s book.
Where is Linda Wheeler Now?
After completing her studies at The University of Texas, Linda worked in the field of education as an English language acquisition specialist, reading specialist, and international baccalaureate coordinator. She went on to reportedly marry a musician and they had two children: Greg and MacKenzie. The latter is an actress who plays Nurse Fuller in ‘My All American.’ She is best known for portraying Taylor Rentzel in CBS’ legal drama series ‘Bull,’ Hildy Azoff in Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ and Penny in HBO’s music drama ‘Vinyl.’ Linda is currently based in Denver.
Linda retired in December 2014. Since then, she has been spending a significant part of her life with Greg, his wife Jessica, and their daughter Lily. The family also lives in Denver. In a 2015 interview, she revealed that she has been enjoying her retired life “working out” and “tutoring kids.” She finds the experience with kids rewarding, especially due to their “organic honesty.” She is married to Kerry Hada, a retired Denver County judge. She describes her husband as an “awesome man and a true patriot.” Kerry is a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun with Gold and Silver Rays, a national decoration awarded by the Japanese government.
Linda also served as the lead instructor to a professional program connecting the University of Denver with the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, Sports and Culture.
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