Remember Keenum? He’s alive and well, and still in the mix
Message boards alongside Houston interstates have yet to alert us to this missing person: Case Keenum, 26, last seen on sideline Dec. 29 at LP Field, Nashville, Tenn.
A few phone calls revealed Keenum hasn’t disappeared.
University of Houston coach Tony Levine, on the Cougars’ staff when Keenum played for them, spent time with him Thursday night. Levine said they talked about football but not about the upcoming NFL draft or Johnny Manziel.
That might be the only football conversation in Houston in two months that hasn’t been about the Texans’ No. 1 overall draft choice and whether they should use it on Manziel. Or Teddy Bridgewater. Or Blake Bortles.
Some have suggested the Texans should pass on a quarterback and take South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. ESPN’s Ron Jaworski, a former NFL quarterback, said last week the Texans already have their quarterback in Matt Schaub.
Keenum? He is the forgotten man, only a little less so than the other quarterback we’ve all forgotten.
When the Texans’ season ended, the assumption was there would be heated debate between Texas A&M fans who wanted them to pursue Manziel and UH fans who wanted them to stay with Keenum.
Through Keenum’s ups and downs in eight starts last season, the one lingering constant
was the backlash from UH fans if any columnist or radio talk show host dared criticize the local hero. Now? Silence. Meantime, there are billboards in strategic locations throughout the city touting Manziel to the Texans and petitions circulating on his behalf.
In one of the rare media mentions of Keenum this winter, Chris Baldwin of CultureMap Houston supported him over Manziel.
Draft? What draft?
Much of the response was uncultured.
The kinder comments agreed Keenum should be a Texans quarterback — as Manziel’s backup.
“It’s like Keenum fans have retreated into a shell,” Baldwin said.
So, in a sense, has Keenum.
Mikado Hinson, the UH campus director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Cougars’ football chaplain, said Keenum is content for now in the background.
He and his family recently vacationed with Keenum and his wife in Montana, about as far from Manziel billboards as one can get.
“Case is the most level person I know,” Hinson said. “Except for making sure he was safe snowmobiling, he didn’t seem to have any worries.”
Keenum called Saturday from San Diego, which, coincidentally, is where Manziel is working out. Keenum is there for a Christian conference.
He confirmed he hasn’t spent time obsessing about the draft.
Keenum did that two years ago. Where did that get him? Undrafted.
“I know that no matter what you hear at this point, you never know what’s going to happen,’’ he said.
Keenum laughed when asked about the Manziel billboards.
“I drove by one once,’’ he said. “I was thinking, ‘There sure are a lot of Aggie fans in Houston.’ ”
This column is not in- tended as an endorsement of Keenum. He wasn’t Russell Wilson when he played last season after he was limited to the practice squad as a rookie. But there were extenuating circumstances.
At worst, he should be given an incomplete.
When coach Gary Kubiak was fired, owner Bob McNair said in no uncertain terms Keenum was the starting quarterback. No matter whom the Texans draft, Keenum deserves a chance to finish what he started.
Levine votes for Case
Keenum has spoken briefly with the new coach, Bill O’Brien, and, although rules pertaining to offseason contact limited their conversation, the quarterback said he didn’t hear anything that made him believe he won’t be given that chance.
Levine undoubtedly is biased because of the Cougars connection, but his team played last season against Louisville’s Bridgewater and University of Central Florida’s Bortles. Although losing both games, UH prevented either quarterback from throwing a touchdown pass. Levine said Keenum is better than both.
Levine probably believes Keenum is better than Manziel, too, but UH didn’t play the Aggies.
Manziel, while taking care of business on the field, has not been shy about campaigning for himself.
Let the chips fall
In a much-quoted interview with the Houston Chronicle and others recently, he said of the possibility of the Texans bypassing him: “It would be the worst decision they’ve ever made. I’d be in the same division playing against them twice a year. Sorry, but you just turned that chip on my shoulder from a Frito into a Dorito.”
In his most inflammatory quote Saturday, Keenum said, “My tank will be full when it’s time.”
He added he’s a Manziel fan.
“I watched a lot of their games,” he said. “No one can say he’s not exciting to watch.”
Keenum probably wouldn’t even mind having Manziel as a teammate, presumably as his backup. Not that Keenum would ever say that. The Frito on his shoulder likely will always be a Frito.