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The Denver Broncos signed safety Shiloh Keo Wednesday, adding needed safety depth following the injuries to T.J. Ward, David Bruton, and Omar Bolden over the past two weeks. But what's amazing about this story is that social media and fortuitiveness from Keo played a big part in his return to a Wade Phillips defense.
Keo, a 2011 5th round Draft pick with Gary Kubiak's Houston Texans, tweeted to Phillips to "keep him in mind" just last week.
When the Broncos signed Josh Bush, Shiloh Keo tweeted at Wade Phillips -
@sonofbum didn't want to pick me up huh?
— Shiloh Keo (@kaleo10) December 2, 2015
To which Phillips replied -
@kaleo10 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
— Wade Phillips (@sonofbum) December 2, 2015
That's when Keo sent a tweet worth thousands
@sonofbum I hear ya, still the same system tho. Little man is doing great. Keep me in mind tho if things don't pan out
— Shiloh Keo (@kaleo10) December 2, 2015
Keo worked out with the Broncos this week and will now wear No. 33 with the club. More on Keo (via the Broncos press release):
Keo (pronounced KAY-oh) is a 5-foot-11, 205-pound safety who is in his fourth NFL season. He played his first three years (2011-13) with Houston after being selected by the Texans in the fifth round (144th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft from the University of Idaho.
Most recently, Keo competed with Cincinnati during the 2015 preseason before being waived by the Bengals on Sept. 5.
In 42 career regular-season games (11 starts), Keo has totaled 64 tackles (52 solo), two interceptions (5 yds.) and seven passes defensed. He also contributed eight tackles (3 solo) in four postseason contests (1 start) for Houston. A former special-teams team captain for the Texans, Keo owns 18 career tackles on those units.
He appeared in 54 career games during his collegiate career for the Vandals, totaling 358 tackles (257 solo), 11 interceptions (168 yds.), 21 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries.
Keo played defensive back and running back at Archbishop Murphy High School in Everett, Wash., and was born on Dec. 17, 1987.
While this looks like a solid football move by the Broncos, it's also just a very cool story. Shiloh Keo kept his NFL dreams alive with Twitter. The most I've ever gotten from a tweet was, well, more tweets. Keo is better at Twitter (and football) than me.