Inductees

As one of the top quarterback recruits in the early 2000s, Chase Daniel could have gone anywhere. Some 75 scholarship offers poured in from all over. The first? It came from the University of Missouri.

“That stood out to me,” Daniel said. “And my dad was really black and white. He didn’t want any distractions going into my senior year.”

Turned out, come national signing day, Daniel inked with Mizzou. Little did anyone know, but he helped elevate the football program to national prominence, and that’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted him with the Class of 2024.

Daniel quarterbacked – and vaulted – the Missouri Tigers football program to a No. 1 ranking in November 2007 and just a win shy of reaching the national championship game.

The former Texas high school standout – he played at Southlake Carroll – was a box-office draw under coach Gary Pinkel (MSHOF Legend 2019).

When he left for the National Football League after the 2008 season, Daniel held every passing and total offense game, season and career record of note. That included 12,515 passing yards, 101 touchdown passes, a 68.0 completion percentage, total offense (13,485 yards) and most touchdowns responsible for (11).

The Tigers were 30-11 in his three seasons, won the first two conference division titles in program history (2007-2008 Big 12 North) and reached three bowl games, winning the 2008 Cotton Bowl in a 38-7 victory against Arkansas.

In 2007, he finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting and was an All-American after completing 384 of 563 passes for 4,306 yards and 33 touchdowns in a 12-win season.

He later spent 13 seasons in the NFL, playing as a reserve quarterback for New Orleans, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit and the Los Angeles Chargers.

Even now, he can remember Pinkel’s hard-nosed mindset, a big selling point for Daniel’s dad.

“My dad loved that,” Daniel said. “It was hard core, and that’s what I liked.”

His first summer at Mizzou? Daniel studied the playbook repeatedly. He had won three high school state titles.

“I felt it was never too big for me,” Daniel said of playing in the Big 12 Conference. “I wanted to learn the offense, and I felt, if I could, I wouldn’t think (during the game) and would just go out and play.”

Initially, he wanted to win the back-up role behind Brad Smith (MSHOF 2017) but figured Mizzou would red-shirt him.

However, that changed at the end of two-a-days. Daniel was stunned. Pinkel wanted to plug him in in two series per game.

The next? He earned the starting role and, in the season-opener against Murray State, threw five touchdown passes – a school single-game record.

The 2007 season became Mizzou’s best-ever for a program that, before Pinkel’s arrival in 2001, had only two winning seasons in the previous 17 seasons.

“Something stood out (in the summer of 2007), and I thought things were going to be different this year,” Daniel said.

They certainly were. Sports Illustrated splashed him on its cover when Mizzou reached a No. 1 national ranking, with the headline, “Mizzou, That’s Who!”

“It was awesome. It was one of those (incredible) things for sure,” Daniel said of the No. 1 ranking. “But we in the building were focused on Oklahoma. That week, I was deathly sick. I got IVs all week, before the game and at halftime. But it was really special (to be in that position), and to know what it meant to Mizzou fans.”

That Saturday, Mizzou played for the Big 12 Championship and were tied 14-14 against Oklahoma at halftime. The Sooners pulled away late.

 

In Daniel’s eyes, the success was a true team effort in that era. For his part, he made sure everything was on point.

“I’m a perfectionist,” Daniel said. “l expected greatness out of every guy. Everyone bought in. I couldn’t have put up the numbers without all of them.”

Daniel thanks so many mentors, including Mizzou assistants David Yost, Dave Christensen and Dave Steckel. He also credits high school coach Todd Dodge for readying him for life, not just college football.

And then there has always been family: his mom and dad, Bill & Vickie, sister Lynsey as well as his wife, Hillary, and their children Preston, Parker and Ashton.

“It’ll always be a favorite memory,” Daniel said of his time at Mizzou. “It wasn’t a dream. You remember the wins. But you remember the relationships more. The hard times. The losses. That’s what makes football special.”