BC linebacker Bryce Steele could have let a cancer diagnosis shatter his dream. Instead, he made it all the way back.

Shortly after Bryce Steele’s first five-hour round of chemotherapy, in July 2023, he called then-Boston College strength coach Phil Matusz and told him he would be ready for a workout the next morning.

His body, however, had other ideas. At 3 a.m., Steele found himself throwing up and in extreme discomfort — a night he referred to as the “worst I’ve ever felt in my life.” Steele, a linebacker battling a rare form of cancer called thymoma, spent several days bedridden.

Once Steele was able, he returned to the weight room and field to train between rounds of chemo. He critiqued his spring game film while receiving treatment, and continued to balance academics and football while making frequent trips to Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“For me, that was my peace of mind,” Steele said. “Just being around the guys and continuing to live my life as I would if I hadn’t had cancer.”

Before surgery on Oct. 3, 2023, doctors delivered the bleak news that he would never play football at the level he wanted again. After the surgery, Steele remained in the hospital for a month and couldn’t walk more than 10 feet without losing his breath.

He missed the 2023 season, but Steele never lost faith.

“To this day, I’m healthy now, cancer free,” Steele said. “I plan on continuing to be cancer free.”

Many in his situation would have crumbled or given up. Steele, however, has had an unmistakable resolve ever since his childhood. Less than a year after the surgery, when doctors told him before training camp that he was cleared to play, Steele excused himself and started sobbing in the bathroom.

He saw action in four regular-season games, opting to preserve his redshirt to give himself the best chance to reach his potential. Steele, a 6-foot-1-inch, 225-pound redshirt junior who is expected to play in the Pinstripe Bowl against Nebraska on Dec. 28, has inspired the Eagles with his determination.

“To overcome cancer, and to be in the lineup, and to be able to do what he does, is really a tremendous message to everybody in our program,” coach Bill O’Brien said.

Steele grew up in North Carolina in a family of Dallas Cowboys fans. Cowboys onesies and helmets were typical gifts, and he spent Sundays with his parents, Wendell Steele and Nicholle Allen-Steele, glued to the TV.

He began playing flag football at age 4 and quickly realized he loved running away from people with the ball in his hands. His parents never had to remind him to go to practice or have his equipment ready. Steele was meticulous, always up early and ready to outwork his peers.

Steele blossomed into a four-star recruit, and offers started to pile up early at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va.

Then, in September of his junior year, doctors told Steele he had thymoma — a cancer that affects the thymus, which is located between the lungs. Thymoma is uncommon in general, and almost unheard of for a 17-year-old with no prior health conditions.

“We were shocked,” his mother said, “but thankful that we learned about it when we did.”

Steele needed surgery and missed his junior year. He elected to keep his diagnosis private, and schools such as Michigan and Tennessee lost interest when they learned he wasn’t playing. Steele committed to South Carolina, then decommitted when coach Will Muschamp was fired. When Jeff Hafley moved from Ohio State to Boston College, he and linebackers coach Sean Duggan continued to recruit Steele, which left a lasting impression.

Steele, whose senior season was canceled because of COVID, moved back home and attended Millbrook Magnet High in Raleigh, N.C. He enrolled early at BC, in January 2021, and emerged as a steady contributor the next fall.

The cancer returned in each of his first two seasons, but he was able to persevere. Steele appeared in 11 games as a freshman, starting one, then added two sacks, 5½ tackles for loss, and 51 tackles in 12 games as a reliable sophomore.

But in 2023, the cancer returned again, and more ferocious.

“The most recent time, when it came back the most aggressive, was probably the hardest for me mentally,” Steele said. “There were times where I thought, ‘All right, I don’t know if I should continue to play football. I need to start thinking about things besides football.’ ”

But Steele has always had faith, and he opted to use the outlook as fuel.

Steele grinded his way back and earned a spot on the field for the Eagles’ thrilling, season-opening win over No. 10 Florida State. Before the game, Steele’s mother sent her son a text, telling him how proud she was.

“I cried sitting in the stadium in my seat,” Nicholle Allen-Steele said. “I know it was emotional for him.”

Steele also saw action against Duquesne, then later in the season against Southern Methodist and North Carolina, but he met with O’Brien along the way and decided to redshirt. He felt he wasn’t where he needed to be physically, and he didn’t want to be out there just for the sake of playing.

Steele is continuing to inch toward where he wants to be, hoping his best days are ahead of him. After six surgeries, countless rounds of chemo, and dozens of long nights in the hospital, Steele is incredibly grateful, and as optimistic as he’s been in years.

“It was just remarkable and outstanding for us all to witness,” fellow linebacker Kam Arnold said. “We all went to see him when he was in the hospital at the time, going through chemotherapy. Seeing him then and seeing him now, it’s unbelievable. It’s amazing.”

Steele’s advice to someone in a similar spot is to not let anyone, or anything, deter them from pursuing their goals.

“No matter what the circumstances are, there’s always going to be light at the end of the tunnel,” Steele said. “If you want something badly enough, you have every right and every opportunity to go get it.”