Steve Rogers is 17 years old. He was a scrawny, sickly kid for most of his life, the favourite victim of every local bully, until he had a sudden growth spurt on the summer of his 15th birthday. He started playing football, discovered that he was actually good at it, and ended up the captain of the high school football team, the Howlers. His new status earned him the nickname 'Cap' and made him the darling of the school, but he never forgot his years at the bottom of the foodchain, making him both more compassionate and definitely more awkward.
Steve isn't a native of Brooklyn: he comes from a small town named Liberty, Kentucky. He had to move to Brooklyn, because his mother lost her job, and found the first reliable offer over there. His mother raised him alone, and they always had financial difficulties, living just a step above desperate poverty. Due to his upbringing in small-town America, his views about the world are far more old-fashioned than those of the other members of the group, and getting to know New York life, he changes some of his beliefs. He is a kind and compassionate person, and he realises that the things he has been taught about immigration, gay rights, or even women may not be entirely correct. Still, he remains a Christian and a patriot – only a more informed one.
His best friend is Bucky, a fellow football player and the playboy of the school. Bucky often mocks him, because he has less success with girls: Steve has never even kissed anyone. He has a huge crush on Peggy, a snarky brunette aiming to be valedictorian. Steve has finally worked up the courage to talk to her when they did a project on WW2 history together, and surprisingly, she actually seemed to like him. At least, she promised to dance with him at the next school disco – at which point he had to leave for Brooklyn, asking for a rain check on the dance. He is sorry to leave her, and probably even sorrier about leaving Bucky – Bucky just had a terrible football accident, leaving him hospitalised for weeks, and Steve wanted to be there to help him through recovery.
Steve has a talent for drawing. Before he started football, his main hobby was drawing: sketching people and inventing dream-landscapes. Even though he enjoys drawing a lot, and has enough talent to make a career of it, he always thought of it as a slightly strange personal interest, definitely nothing to be proud of. But all that changes, once he is recruited by SHIELD.
