ORCHARD PARK, NY -- By Gregg Palermo
Black and gold uniform? Check. Jersey number 10? Check. September opponent from Buffalo? Check. That was the scene for Chase Daniel a little more than a year ago (September 20, 2009), when the University of Buffalo came to Faurot Field to take on the Missouri Tigers. Now, flash forward to September 27, 2009: he had the uniform and the number, and an opponent from Buffalo. Only this time, Daniel wasn’t facing a college outfit. For the first time he could say he was on the roster for an NFL team—The New Orleans Saints—facing the Buffalo Bills. This time, in Buffalo.
Daniel was signed to the Saints practice squad after being among the Washington Redskins final preseason roster cuts. The practice squad is what it sounds like, for practice, not for gameday. Then came word of Friday’s promotion, calls to friends and family. Daniel called it “a dream come true to suit up” for his first regular season game, even though he saw no action in the Saints 27-7 victory.
Since Daniel signed with New Orleans, he’s been something of a sponge, trying to soak up as much information from the Saints other quarterbacks, including starter Drew Brees, who like Daniel, was not highly recruited out of high school in Texas, played in a spread offense in college, and had to battle concerns over his height and arm strength. Brees has overcome those obstacles to become one of the NFL’s top passers. ‘From what I’ve seen, he’s got a lot of moxie. I like his attitude,” Brees said. His other mentor in New Orleans is Mark Brunell, a veteran who was also coached by Gary Pinkel during Pinkel’s time as an assistant coach at the University of Washington. Daniel’s locker neighbors the veterans’. “I’m trying not to annoy them as much as I can,” Daniel said.
On Sunday, you could tell Chase Daniel was just soaking up the experience of it all. While fans may have seen him on the sidelines during the game, his work came in the hour before kickoff. With few fans in the stadium, there he was, the familiar #10 in black and gold, warming up the team’s WR and RB corps. He’s gone from being the face of a program to toiling behind the scenes, but that suits Daniel just fine for now. “Nothing’s expected of me,” he says, which gives him the chance to keep on soaking in the information and the experience.
Saints Head Coach Sean Payton said after the game that an injury to the team’s emergency QB, wide receiver Lance Moore, was the sole reason the team promoted Daniel to the roster. Daniel knows his official status as an NFL player, and the considerable pay increase which comes with that, could change in just a few days. “I’ll be here next week if they need me.’
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