Born in Bellingham, Washington, Steinbrunner was an all-state athlete in football and basketball at Mount Baker High School, and graduated in 1949.

With a lingering knee injury from his collegiate days and the Browns winning consecutive NFL titles in 1954 and 1955, he later opted to stay in the service.

Major Steinbrunner's plane, a C-123 Provider, was shot down by small-arms fire on July 20, 1967, during a defoliation mission spraying Agent Orange on the jungle forest canopy, killing all five crewmen aboard.

[1] Long unrecognized as the first NFL player to be killed in action in the Vietnam War, Steinbrunner was honored by the Browns on November 14, 2004.

[8] Buffalo Bills' guard Bob Kalsu, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army with the 101st Airborne Division, was killed in action on July 21, 1970.