One year ago, Case Keenum was competing at quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.
Many expected him to back up Sam Bradford, but in the Vikings’ Week 1 win over New Orleans, Bradford injured his knee and would be out for an extended period of time.
Enter Keenum, who would not only take over the starting QB position, he would have a career year and help lead Minnesota to the NFC championship game.
Over the past few months, life has been good for Keenum. In March, he signed a two-year deal with the Denver Broncos and on Thursday, he announced the release of his first book through a press release:
NASHVILLE, TENN. (June 7, 2018)—In 2017, Case Keenum captured America’s imagination by leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 13-3 record and an NFC North title. His game-winning touchdown in the final seconds of their divisional playoff game against the Saints, the “Minneapolis Miracle,” made Keenum part of NFL history.
Keenum, now the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos, will release his first book this September, Playing for More: Trust Beyond What You Can See (B&H Publishing Group). Keenum will share stories from every stage of life and explain how being a Christian helped him navigate the winding paths of both adversity and success in the NFL.
“Am I a football player who happens to be a Christian?” Keenum asks. “No, I’m a Christian who happens to be a football player. That’s my calling. That’s my defining characteristic.”
Keenum played college football at the University of Houston, where he set virtually every major NCAA record. He signed with the Houston Texans as undrafted free agent in 2012 and holds a record of 20-18 as an NFL starter with the Texans, Rams and Vikings. In 2017, he led Minnesota to a 13-win season and a victory over the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round of the playoffs. Keenum signed a two-year deal with the Broncos in March 2018.
“As I’ve gotten to know Case better, I’ve learned that his primary motivation as a player, and as a leader, is to point people to the Lord,” writes Tony Dungy, New York Times bestselling author and former NFL head coach, in the book’s foreword. “More than anything else, he wants to show young people that the most important thing in his life is his relationship with Jesus. That’s why he plays. That’s why he trains so hard and has sacrificed so much to become an excellent player. And that’s why he has written this book.”
Playing for More is written with Andrew Perloff, an on-air personality on the television and radio sports talk program “The Dan Patrick Show” and contributing writer for SportsIllustrated.com. Perloff interviewed Keenum for a Sports Illustrated feature in 2013 and has covered him throughout his NFL career.
For more information about Playing for More, visit bhpublishinggroup.com.
Sports Spectrum spoke with Keenum exclusively about the release and why he decided to put his life into a book.
“It’s been neat to see what God has done in my life,” Keenum told us. “We want this book to be about glorifying God and ultimately hopefully pointing people to Christ. If it blesses somebody, encourages somebody, challenges somebody from the things that I’ve messed up, the things that I’ve done well, that’s kind of what I want people to take away. It’s my story. God has intricately placed every tiny detail with masterful perfection. We wanted God to be glorified. It’s not my story. It’s God’s story told through me.”
Keenum will be collaborating on the book with Andrew Perloff of “The Dan Patrick Show,” and says writing the book and having it all come together with Perloff’s help has been great.
“The process was pretty cool. It started with a lot of phone calls, a lot of just talking with him. And then as it kind of came out on paper, we’d hear things, talk to friends and family and remember this happened, that happened. And then to see it on paper, it was kind of like, ‘WOW, this is pretty cool.'”
Keenum is also excited about the start of the 2018 NFL season, and he told Sports Spectrum that he’s been enjoying getting to know his new team.
“It’s a really really good team,” Keenum said. “Really good squad. Not just on the field, but off the field. The guys are great. There’s familiarity with the coaching staff and I’m just working hard to become a better leader. It’s been awesome.”
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