A true son, Chase Daniel

If he wasn't already, Chase Daniel became my favorite Tiger ever on Saturday.  He gave us a true revival in Mizzou football when he won 30 games in 3 years as a starter, and sat as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy his junior year.  He had the team within 30 minutes of football at the Big XII title game from playing for the national championship.  He was the heart and soul of 3 of the teams that won more games than any other in Tiger history.  If you were a Missouri fan you hoped that when he graduated that he'd get to realize his dream of playing in the NFL.  But, despite all the success and accolades he went undrafted before signing a free agent contract with Washington where he was released at the final roster cut.  He did however catch on with the Saints, where he is today, as the backup to Drew Brees.  I hoped he'd have a long and injury free career before returning to Missouri to begin his inevitable journey into coaching.

But Chase decided not to wait to express more thanks to the university and Coach Pinkel.  On Saturday he announced the creation of the "Chase Daniel Lone State State Scholarship", intended to pay for the scholarship of one football player from Texas, preferable to come play for Mizzou.  I'm going to play a hunch and guess that next year James Franklin will be playing on Chase' dime.  It's an incredibly generous gesture and while I don't expect it to impact Texas recruiting dramatically, it does free up some cash for recruiting trips, and does keep the Mizzou name and Chase in the same sentence.  He's still a legend in the Dallas area.  It also puts a little pressure on former teammates Jeremy Maclin, Sean Weatherspoon, William Moore and Ziggy Hood to think about doing something similar since they are all in the league also and probably making more money than Chase is as a backup.

I'm sure there have been other gifts such as this.  I believe that former hick defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh gave some large gift a last year and I'm sure there have been others.  I already expect former beak quarterback Todd Reesing to do something similar since he basically spent his career trying to be Chase.  Perhaps to immortalize his legacy at kansas he could award a membership to the "box wine of the month club" to a deserving member of the beaks football team.  Of course as long as the Reverend Gill is coaching them the kid won't be able to use it during the season.