Chase Daniel

William Chase Daniel (born October 7, 1986) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was signed by the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Missouri.

Early years
Daniel prepped under head coach Todd Dodge at Carroll High School in Southlake, Texas, where the team won the 5A Division II state title in 2002 and 2004 as well as a state runner up in 2003. After playing his sophomore year at wide receiver, Daniel was a two-year starter at QB, leading his team to a 31-1 record in those years. Daniel completed 65.2% of his passes for 8,298 yards and 91 touchdowns and added 2,954 rushing yards and 39 scores. Southlake earned a No. 1 national ranking in 2004 after winning the 5A state championship, while Daniel won the 5A state Player of the Year. He was also named the EA Sports National Player of the Year.

As a Junior, Daniel threw for 3,681 yards with 42 TD vs 9 INT and ran for 1,529 yards with 18 TD

Despite his high numbers, he was not recruited heavily by his preferred school, Texas. This presented an opportunity for Missouri to recruit him, and give him a chance to be part of a resurgent program. Ironically, it was only after he had committed to Mizzou that Longhorn coach Mack Brown began to seriously look at Daniel but Daniel stuck to his verbal commitment with Missouri. He was also offered scholarships from Maryland, Oklahoma State, Stanford, and Texas A&M.

During high school, Daniel was a member of National Honor Society, and a member of his school's student council for three years.

2006
In 2006, Daniel started all 13 games as Missouri earned a berth in the Brut Sun Bowl. He threw for 3,527 yards with a 63.5% completion rate and 28 touchdowns. Daniel also set a school record for passing touchdowns in a game, racking up five scores in the season opener against Murray State. This was good enough for a Second Team All-Big 12 selection while he also was named to the First Team All-Academic Big 12 Team. Daniel was also one of the 35 quarterbacks placed on the 2007 Manning Award watch list.

2007
In 2007, Daniel improved even more stunningly, throwing for 4,306 yards with a 68.2% completion rate and 33 touchdowns, with only 11 interceptions in 14 games. He also rushed for a net 253 yards and four touchdowns for a total offense of 37 touchdowns and 4,559 yards, almost 326 yards per game.

On Jan. 1, 2008, Missouri wrapped up a school-best 12-2 season with a 38-7 win over Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. A week later, the Tigers were ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press' final poll - the highest final ranking in school history - and No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. Daniel also announced he was returning for his senior season after putting his name in with the NFL College Advisory Committee to receive feedback for the NFL Draft.

On November 27, 2007, the Big 12 Conference named Daniel the Offensive Player of the Year. He is the first Missouri player to be named to that honor.

On Dec. 5, 2007, Chase was invited by the Heisman Trophy Trust to go to New York City as one of four finalists. He eventually finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting with 425 points. He garnered 25 first-place votes, 84 second-place votes, and 182 third-place votes. He became only the third Tiger to ever finish in the top-10. His fourth-place showing marks the second-highest finish in Heisman voting by a Tiger player, with Paul Christman the only one to finish higher (third in 1939).

2008
In the 2008 preseason, Daniel was named one of 26 candidates for the 2008 Unitas Award, given to the nation's best senior college football quarterback. Daniel continued to break virtually all Mizzou passing records, and in a two-game span against Southeast Missouri State and Nevada, he actually threw more touchdowns (seven) than he did incomplete passes (six).

Daniel appeared on the front of ESPN the Magazine with teammate Chase Patton.

Daniel donned #25 in honor of fallen teammate Aaron O'Neal. O'Neal died before beginning his freshman year during practice in July 2005, and would have been a senior this year. The number rotated among the senior class that season.

He became the Missouri career total offense yardage leader on December 6, with 13,256. He moved ahead of Brad Smith (13,088). Missouri finished with 10 wins and a #19 ranking in AP Polls.

Awards and honors

 * 2x Heisman Trophy candidate (2007, 2008)
 * 2006 First Team Academic All-Big 12
 * 2006 ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District
 * 2006 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 4 and Nov. 27)
 * 2006 AP Honorable Mention All-Big 12
 * 2006 Second Team All-Big 12
 * 2007-08 Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year
 * 2007 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 8, Nov. 5, and Nov. 26)
 * 2007 First Team Academic All-Big 12
 * 2007 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team
 * 2007 First Team All-Big 12 (AP, Coaches)
 * 2007 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year (AP, Coaches)
 * 2007 All-America Honorable Mention (Sports Illustrated)
 * 2007 All-America Second Team (AP, Walter Camp, Sporting News)
 * 2007 Maxwell Award semifinalist
 * 2007 finalist for Manning Award, Walter Camp Award, Davey O'Brien Award, and
 * 2007 Heisman Trophy Finalist - Finished 4th
 * 2008 Preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year
 * 2008 Draddy Trophy runner-up

Statistics

 * Stats as of December 29, 2008

Pre-draft
Some scouts considered Daniel to be potentially among the best quarterbacks in the 2009 draft, but they had concerns about his height and whether his skills in the college spread offense would translate to the very different game played in the NFL. Daniel's height was measured as 6 ft 1 in at the NFL Scouting Combine. He weighed in at 218 pounds. Daniel ran a 4.86 and 4.79 in the 40 and had a nine-foot broad jump in his Pro Day.

Washington Redskins
Daniel was not selected in the 2009 NFL Draft, but was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Washington Redskins. The Redskins waived Daniel when making their final cutdowns on September 5, 2009.

New Orleans Saints
Daniel was signed to the New Orleans Saints practice squad on September 6, 2009. He was promoted to the active roster on September 26, and named the emergency third quarterback for the September 27 game against the Buffalo Bills. The Saints waived Daniel on October 12, 2009 after placekicker Garrett Hartley (coincidentally, a teammate of Daniel's at Southlake Carroll High School) came back from a four-game suspension, then re-signed him on October 16. On November 17, 2009, ESPN reported that Daniel had been cut once again, to allow the Saints to sign cornerback Chris McAlister. He was signed to the team's practice squad once again on November 20, 2009. Daniel was released from the practice squad on December 9, 2009, only to be re-signed to the practice squad two days later on December 11, 2009. Daniel was promoted to the active roster prior to regular season finale on January 1, 2010. Chase Daniel was a member of the 2009-2010 New Orleans Saints Super Bowl Championship team, although he did not take the field that season.

Going into the 2010 season, Daniel was expected to battle with veteran Patrick Ramsey for the backup quarterback position behind Drew Brees. Daniel and Ramsey put up similar numbers during the preseason, but on September 3, it was reported that Daniel had been chosen for the spot while Ramsey had been waived. Daniel continued as the primary backup to Brees, as well as the team's placekick holder, for the 2010, 2011, and 2012 seasons. He signed a new one-year contract with the Saints in March 2012.

Personal
Chase is the son of Bill and Vickie Daniel.

On March 5, 2011, Daniel announced that he was establishing and endowing an athletic scholarship to go to a Missouri football recruit from Texas.