In his first public comments since learning that the Denver Broncos plan to trade for Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, current Broncos quarterback Case Keenum spoke to Sports Spectrum and said he was “definitely shocked.” Keenum has played just one season in Denver after signing a two-year, $36 million deal with the team in March 2018.
The reported trade for Flacco cannot become official until the new league year begins March 13.
“(Broncos GM John) Elway called me that morning and we had a great conversation, which he didn’t have to do, and I appreciated that,” Keenum said this week on the Sports Spectrum Podcast. “I was definitely shocked, it was a surprise for us and I think probably for the first day or so that’s kind of what it was. But for us, we’re definitely disappointed, it’s not something we wanted to happen. I know that everybody’s doing their job and John feels like that was a chance for him to help the Broncos out.”
Listen to the Sports Spectrum Podcast with Case and Kimberly Keenum here:
Keenum, 31, started all 16 games for the Broncos in 2018, the most games he has ever started in one season. Denver finished the year 6-10 while Keenum threw for 3,890 yards (a career high; 14th in the NFL), 18 touchdowns (23rd) and 15 interceptions (tied for second).
“For us, it’s another chapter in our lives and we’re going to roll with it,” Keenum said with his wife, Kimberly, by his side. “We’re going to approach this like I do everything in my entire life, and that it’s not by accident this has happened. It’s just another chapter and another opportunity to overcome some adversity in my life.”
Prior to signing with Denver, Keenum went 11-3 as a fill-in starter for the Minnesota Vikings in 2017, when the Vikings advanced to the NFC Championship Game. Keenum threw for a career-high 22 touchdowns that season, and posted a career-high 98.3 quarterback rating. It helped him land his first surefire starting gig in the NFL. But after a disappointing season in Denver — the Broncos missed the playoffs for the third straight season after winning Super Bowl 50 — Keenum may be on the move again, or at least in a QB battle with Flacco.
“You know, really, it’s really open-ended right now. We don’t know what’s going to happen, there’s still a lot up in the air; this is really fresh. So a lot of these emotions that we’re talking about are still kind of going on, still happening. So who knows what’s going to be in store? I don’t for sure, God does. But we’ll be ready for whatever God has in store for us next,” Keenum said.
Kimberly also expressed her reaction to learning the news of a Flacco trade.
“At first I definitely was really surprised, I was not expecting it,” she told Sports Spectrum. “And I think instantly you’re kind of mad a little bit too. I’m protective of my husband so part of that emotion happens too. Then next it kind of sets in and it’s like, ‘Welp, here we go again.’
“I feel like my whole motto in this whole NFL experience is just having peace in the unknown. And we keep having the unknown and not sure what’s going to happen next. So I’ve really had to cling to that. I’m a natural planner. I like to know everything going on and I’ve been put in a situation for the last now eight years of not having any control.
“I think the Lord has put us there to just constantly be on our knees just praying and trusting and constantly trusting His plan.”
The Keenums elaborated on their lives of uncertainty in Football Sunday 2019.
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