As the Twitch stream turned its attention back to Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp for his third and final deadlift, he prepared to hit a personal record. Inspired by his competitors at the inaugural Twitch Rivals: loltyler1 Power Meet, he set the weight to 550, five pounds over his previous best.
He stepped behind the bar, flexing every muscle in his arms, back and chest. He screamed, loosened his muscles and bent low to the ground. “Let’s go!” his teammate and girlfriend, Macaiyla, shouted.
Flexing again, he stood up, exhaled and stepped forward to the bar to make the lift. He shuffled his legs around till they were perfect, swatting at his dangling mic cord as it brushed his leg. Nearly 100,000 people were watching him attempt the lift.
At this point, nothing could stop him. Something was going to break — either Tyler1 himself or his previous record.
He jolted up, whipping all 550 pounds in the air, straightening his legs to complete the lift. Record broken.
When Tyler1 later spoke of that moment, he smiled wide and started rocking in his chair, recalling his energy at the meet.
“Dude, it’s like an anime, bro — I don’t watch that. Of course. Look at me. I don’t watch no anime,” Tyler1 said. “But you get powered up with people watching you, so you’re trying to do more. It’s crazy.”
But Tyler1 didn’t always have a stream with 100,000 people in it, just as he wasn’t always able to get 550 pounds off the ground.
He started off in obscurity, like most people, growing up in a small town in Missouri, playing sports and living a seemingly normal life. It wasn’t until November of his first semester at Central Methodist University that he created an account on Twitch, and it wasn’t until a couple of years later that he started gaining popularity as a streamer.
And as quickly as he rose, he was struck down, receiving a permanent ban from playing League of Legends thanks to the rampant toxicity that had become his core brand. Eventually, that ban was lifted, and Tyler1 “reformed” from some of his aggressive ways. He forged his way to the top of League of Legends streamer charts again, and that’s where he sits now, leading the category on Twitch.
But how did he get there? How did a random, farm town running back make his way to the top of the charts on the most popular western streaming platform?
Well, if Tyler1 is anything, he’s dedicated, and that quality goes all the way back to his time before the Rift. It goes back to his time padded up, helmet-faced and touching grass.
Tyler bends down, gripping the grass beneath his fingers; he’s four yards behind the quarterback, offset a bit to the right. The play is about to start. The ball is coming to him. He’s ready.
The quarterback starts the cadence and the ball is snapped. It’s go time.
Tyler jolts, his right leg bursting forward as he takes his first step. The QB rotates, hands outstretched, and Tyler closes his arms around the football, planting with his left foot, shooting straight at the outside hip of his right tackle. His left guard pulls, leading the charge, and Tyler follows behind him and his fullback who is flanking out to the right.
As his guard collides with the opposing linebacker, Tyler braces, lowering his shoulder and smashing into the pair, knocking them both to the ground. He bounces off them into a spin, narrowly escaping the outstretched hands of another group of his opponents. He trips into a third defender, dragging him along until a fourth and final body tackles him to the ground. The sticks move for a first down.
Fast forward eight years and the focus and discipline required to be a running back is still with him, but a few things have changed. Tyler replaced the pads and helmet with a keyboard and mouse. His cleats have become slippers. His turf? Summoner’s Rift.
Tyler has become Tyler1.
The Missouri native is one of Twitch’s most influential streamers. But Tyler1, still every bit the never-say-die running back from back then, would never be satisfied by simply topping the stream charts in League of Legends. No, Tyler1 was going to change the whole platform. He was going to break all the rules, just as he always did at the start of his streaming career — but this time for the better.
The origin story of Tyler1’s Power Meet powered by Twitch Rivals is not quite as gruesome as his past as a running back, nor is it as calculated as his Draven AD carry or Ivern jungle play.
But when Tyler1, T1 and Twitch started planning their collaboration in October 2020, they carved a new path for the platform.
Published: Sep 20, 2021 12:28 pm