If you were to ask someone name a quarterback for the New Orleans Saints was, 10 out 10 people would reply Drew Brees; unless they’re a diehard Missouri fan, and then they might answer Chase Daniel. Daniel has been the back up to Brees for the last few seasons, and since Drew never misses a game, most fans probably haven’t realized this. Coming out of Missouri, Daniel and teammate Jeremy Maclin shredded the Big 12 together; bring the Missouri program back to prominence while also making Daniel the school’s all-time leading passer.
While Daniel has yet to see this success in the NFL, he is still grateful to be in the league and learn from Drew Brees, “It means a lot, Drew is one of my best friends just in general, and to learn from him, to learn from a future Hall of Famer like Drew, it means a lot and I try to take it in as much as I can.” While Daniel obviously doesn’t play for Missouri anymore he still cares about the university and at times, probably misses it, “Columbia’s downtown is just a big old college town I absolutely love it, New Orleans is more of bar scene, music scene, stuff like that.” While Daniel is far from Missouri campus down in New Orleans, he is looking forward to watching the Tigers play down near him in the SEC next season, “I think I’ll definitely get to go to some more games, and we’re excited for the conference realignments, ya know we feel like we can competitive in that league.”
Since Daniel is the back up for one of the best quarterbacks in the league, it is unlikely Chase will see much playing time next season, barring an injury to Drew Brees. With that said, playing behind a prominent quarterback can still open doors and help a young quarterback develop into an NFL starter. If Daniels works hard, he can hope to follow in the footsteps of former long term backups like Matt Schaub and Matt Cassel, and lock up s starting job in the NFL.