Broncos Quarterback Case Keenum Chronicles His Roller-Coaster Career in New Memoir

Case Keenum's rise to fame was an unusual one. The Broncos quarterback was a two-star recruit coming out of high school and, despite setting NCAA Division I passing records at the University of Houston, went undrafted in 2012.

Today, September 4, Keenum joins a small group of professional football players who have published books with the release of Playing for More. The 224-page memoir is about the unlikely star's rise to fame and roller-coaster career.

The book chronicles Keenum's childhood, arguing that his hyper-competitive nature led him to cheat in games like UNO and Candy Land, to his present-day success slinging the football. Published by B&H Publishing Group, which seeks to "provide intentional, Bible-centered content that positively impacts the hearts and minds of people, inspiring them to build a lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ," Playing for More also delves into Keenum's faith. The Abilene, Texas, native makes it clear that he owes all of his success to God and writes about his love for Jesus.

The idea to write a book came from a dinner-table discussion in February 2018 during Super Bowl week in Minnesota between Keenum, his wife, Kimberly Keenum, his agent and Andrew Perloff, an accomplished sportswriter who works for the Dan Patrick Show and frequently writes for Sports Illustrated. Between courses, Perloff and Keenum joked about writing a book. Two weeks later, Perloff visited Keenum in Houston to talk book ideas.


Keenum isn't the first Broncos player to write a book. Nate Jackson, a former backup wide receiver for the team, wrote a critically acclaimed novel in 2014 that Rolling Stone called the "best football memoir ever." Former Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow has six books written with various ghostwriters.

In his book, Keenum is honest with readers. He describes his raw emotions during the low, depressing moments and the ecstatic highs of his career.

Though Keenum went undrafted out of college, then-head Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak took notice of his talents. Kubiak, who backed up John Elway and also led the Broncos to the Super Bowl 50 championship as head coach, gave Keenum his first shot as an NFL quarterback. In the book, Keenum refers to Kubiak as the "man who believed in me when no other head coach in the NFL did."

When Keenum was with the Texans in 2014, the team's head coach that took over after Kubiak, Bill O'Brien, told Keenum that he would be nothing more than a third-string NFL quarterback. Last year, Keenum led the Vikings to the NFC Championship game, earning a 98.3 passer rating along the way.

Denver Broncos fans are hopeful that Keenum is the answer to the franchise's recent quarterback woes and will be the next great Broncos QB. And according to Perloff, Keenum is hoping that his tenure in Denver is a long one. "He really wants to put down roots in the Denver community. He told me he loves it there. He’ll be a real addition to the city."

A hardcover version of Playing for More is on sale on Amazon for $16.13. It is also available on Kindle for $8.99.