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McDANIEL: Thankful NFL (finally) sees what we see in Case Keenum

Amy McDaniel
San Angelo Standard-Times
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Case Keenum (7) celebrates wide receiver Jarius Wright's touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017.

This was a very difficult column to write.

It’s Thanksgiving Day and I am soooo thankful for the wonderful family I have.

I just spent most of three days with six members of my family, including nephew Case Keenum, the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. (It feels incredibly amazing to type “starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings” next to his name.)

We were in Minnesota — at the brand-new US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis — watching Case win his sixth-straight game for the now NFC North-leading Vikes.

When I found out I was going to get to see him play in person for the first time since his last college game five years ago, I was completely pumped. My colleagues told me I needed to write a column.

Amy McDaniel, multimedia sports journalist, San Angelo Standard-Times

I knew they were right. He’s a graduate of Abilene Wylie — the only quarterback to win a state championship for the always-strong Bulldogs — and his career is of interest to people in West Texas.

Mason head football coach Kade Burns coached Case in junior high. Lake View running backs coach Jason Reynolds was his teammate on the state championship team.

Eldorado head football coach Michael Johnson‘s wife was/is a good friend of Case’s through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She played soccer at the University of Houston. (That’s another cool story).

Sonora head coach Jeff Cordell was the defensive coordinator at Gainesville who figured out how to stop Wylie in two state quarterfinal games.

Canyon head coach Blake Bryant — a former athlete of Case’s dad — was basically quoted by Vikings’ head coach Mike Zimmer this week after the win over the Rams. To paraphrase, “Keenum’s got guts.” Bryant saw it more than a decade ago, when Wylie beat Canyon in the playoffs.

Several of the folks I have visited with this season in my regular duties have asked about Case. I got autographed photos for some of them on Sunday.

But I’m his aunt. How credible can my opinion be? I changed his diaper once or twice, for goodness' sake! Of course I am rooting for his success, not observing it as an outsider.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Case Keenum (7) talks with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff after an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017, in Minneapolis. The Vikings won 24-7. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

So I was going to make the column about the experience of seeing him (hopefully) win against a team — the Los Angeles Rams — that utilized him as a placeholder, essentially, until their first-round draft pick was ready.

Well, it was incredible. US Bank Stadium — site of this year’s Super Bowl (don’t think this was lost on me) — is a work of art. The outside looks like a Viking longship. The inside, an amped-up version of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

There was fire shooting out of a dragon’s mouth on a longship run-in tunnel that you could feel from the second level.

The national anthem was sung beautifully by a U.S. Navy veteran, and there was a wonderfully orchestrated and moving tribute to U.S. military veterans, complete with fireworks.

Minnesota played like a team that’s leading its division, improved to 8-2 and sits tied for best record in the NFC and the entire league.

Even though his own play helped this stat, Case gave all the credit to his offensive line, which did not allow a sack.

According to ESPN, Case had the highest quarterback rating against the blitz (94) entering the game and completed 15 of 20 passes, including a TD to Adam Thielen, for 191 yards against the Rams, who knew all about his tendencies.

The defense held the highest-scoring offense in the NFC to just seven points on the opening drive. The rest of the way, they pitched a shutout.

Backups and underrated players did their jobs and contributed to a team win. (Boy, is that nice!)

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Case Keenum (7) scrambles in the second quarter against the Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald (99) at U.S. Bank Stadium.

It was real team win, and sitting in Case’s living room with the rest of the family after the home-cooked-by-his-wife victory dinner — yes, she pulled that off even though she was hosting us and getting us to and from the game — he detailed all the great plays made by his teammates.

Naturally, I got on the internet to start reading what the rest of the world had to say about the Vikings and Case.

He’s under enormous pressure to win and play perfectly. Viking quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who was activated finally last week before the Washington game after more than a season of rehab from a major knee injury and surgery, is a fan favorite and starters are supposed to regain their jobs, right?

Case had his own major knee surgery to come back from. His story of winning a sixth year of eligibility for the Houston Cougars is pretty well-known. So it’s not like this family doesn’t understand the situation from all sides.

But when I found some initial commentary saying Case was only playing well because he’s got a lot of talent around him, I’m like ….um yeah. This is the NFL, home of the best football players in the world. Aren’t they all great athletes? The backups are capable of starting in most instances. They just need the chance, they just need the reps, they just need the team.

I was ready to turn my “experience” column into a screed, calling out everyone who still wants to label Case as the backup, the second-stringer, the journeyman. Good grief! Does Tom Brady not have great talent surrounding him?! It just felt like nobody was giving him any credit whatsoever. He got blamed all the time for losses when teams were not at full strength.

I was all prepared to step onto the soap box and thankfully, things started rolling in such as commentary from former New York Giants’ quarterback Phil Simms, who said “Watch him and watch the team around him and see his personality. His teammates really gravitate towards him.”

And then there was a Texas Monthly article, which said everything I had written on Tuesday when I first started this project.

Thank goodness I can stay out of the debate because folks are finally starting to recognize what a lot of other true believers and I have known for a long time.

Give Case the ball and a team that believes in him and works with his skills, and you will win ball games. Tight ball games, when the pressure is ratcheted up. Games where you’re down in the last few minutes.

Oh, and, don’t ever count him out.

So … as the Vikings prepare to play the Detroit Lions Thursday in the nationally-televised Thanksgiving Day game, I can sit back and enjoy and be thankful for my family and in knowing that this great kid from West Texas is finally getting to live his dream the way he deserves.

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Amy McDaniel is a multimedia sports journalist for the San Angelo Standard-Times.