Shiloh Keo’s tweet helps get him from his couch to the Super Bowl

Who would have guessed a simple tweet could led Shiloh Keo from his couch in December to the Super Bowl just two months later?

You see Keo was out of work with his NFL dreams at a crossroads.

He spent three seasons from 2011-2013 as a backup safety and special-teams captain with the Houston Texans before the team cut him in early 2014 after he suffered a calf-injury.

After getting released by Houston, Keo tried to latch on in training camp with the Cincinnati Bengals this year, but it didn’t work out there either.

All of a sudden, the 28-year old safety was without work, without much hope.

But a simple tweet (along with his play on the field) put him back on Broncos defensive coordinator’s Wade Phillips mind.

“A part of me still can’t believe it,” Keo, told USA Today before arriving at Super Bowl 50. “It was at the stage of ‘what do I have to lose here?’ I was just sitting on the couch, hoping to get a chance,”

So what was the message that led Phillips to give Keo one last shot?

Keo sent Phillips, an avid twitter user, “didn’t want to pick me up huh?”

Phillips responded; “Keo—Josh was with us in camp and first 4 games-u know how much I think of u—hope that little Keo is doing well.”

Keo sent back: “I hear ya, still the same system tho. Little man is doing great. Keep me in mind tho if things don’t pan out.”

And sure enough, after injuries continued to pile up at the safety position, Keo signed with the Broncos on December 9.

“I wanted to text (Phillips) but I didn’t have his cell phone,” Keo said. “I knew he was a big Twitter guy so we decided on doing it that way. I wasn’t really sure about it but my wife was sure it was the right thing to do. She usually gets her own way on things like that – and she is usually right.”

It turn’s out, Phillips knew exactly what he was getting in Keo, as they spent three years together in Houston after Keo was selected by the Texans in the 5^th round of the 2011 draft.

“I tend to have a closer relationship than people think coaches ought to have with players sometimes, but I care about him,” Phillips said on Monday. “I cared about him and I didn’t realize he had another one and another one on the way, so we hadn’t kept that close in touch, but he’s a great kid. He made a great play last week; the onside kick plus he made some plays in the game. I was glad for him.”

“Like I said, we brought (Broncos safety Josh) Bush up and he knew our scheme and had been playing in it and now Shiloh was out there and we needed another safety, so it fit our priority, plus he’s a great kid, a hard worker,” Phillips added.

“We knew what we were going to get.”