Two months ago, Shiloh Keo was without a job, wondering if he would ever play in the National Football League again.
But on Sunday afternoon, the former Vandal safety was standing on Levi’s Field with the Lombardi Trophy as orange and white confetti rained down from the sky.
When the Cincinnati Bengals released Keo in September, the safety spent the next several months in Boise rehabbing a previous injury.
With two young children and a third on the way, Keo was considering retirement and life after football.
“I hadn’t had official thoughts about it, but this past two years has been really hard on myself and my family,” Keo said in an interview last week with The Seattle Times.
Despite an impressive resumé, few NFL teams expressed interest in the safety.
As a Vandal, Keo earned a starting role as a true freshman in 2006 under former head coach Dennis Erickson. The following year, Keo set program records in both punt return average and punt return yardage and earned team MVP honors.
The safety was selected in the fifth round of 2011 NFL draft by the Houston Texans, where Keo spent three injury-riddled years before the team cut ties.
The safety began training camp with the Bengals this year, but was released at the conclusion of the preseason.
When Keo noticed the Denver Broncos had experienced a series of injuries at the safety position in December, he tweeted former head coach and Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips to lobby for a spot on the roster.
Phillips told Keo that the Broncos had already signed another safety, but that the team would keep him in mind in case of another injury.
On Dec. 9, after another yet another injury to the defensive secondary, the team announced the signing of Keo.
“Shiloh had found me on Twitter, but we had already talked about Shiloh…John Elway knew about him,” said Phillips in the December press conference. “Once we got another safety hurt, we said, ‘Hey, Shiloh is the next guy.’”
Keo’s presence in the secondary proved to be a deciding factor in several pivotal games for the Broncos.
On Jan. 3, Keo intercepted a pass from San Diego quarterback Phillip Rivers late in the fourth quarter of a 20-20 game. The interception occurred deep in Chargers territory and set up the game-deciding touchdown that earned Denver the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.
The former Vandal made yet another key play during the AFC Championship game on Jan. 24 against New England.
With the Patriots trailing 20-18 with 12 seconds left in the game, Keo entered the game as part of a special teams unit designed to recover onside kicks.
When Patriots Pro Bowl kicker Stephan Gostowski booted the ball into the ground in the hope that it would take a favorable bounce, Keo was the Bronco that recovered the kick.
The recovery sealed the win for Denver and clinched a berth for the Broncos in Super Bowl 50.
“When I think about it, I get emotional,” Keo told reporters after the game. “They believed in me, and that’s why they brought me here.”
During Sunday’s Super Bowl 50 matchup, Keo saw the field during kickoffs and as a defensive substitute. The safety was part of the Broncos defense that limited NFL MVP Cam Newton and the Carolina offense to 10 points.
In two months, the safety went from an unsigned free agent to a Super Bowl champion.
“It’s better than a dream come true,” Keo told reporters. “Because I never dreamt this way.”
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom
(Photo courtesy by Media Relations)