A Tale and Team of Two QBs
Way back in late May, when I thought I’d answer the call for the Lafayette Lions as an old-school, no-gloved receiver, I quickly learned how hard the two quarterbacks threw the ball. I also learned that my old school (Our Lady of Mount Carmel) neither sounded tough nor did much for my football resume. And I’ve since invested in some gloves.
The throwers in question—Carl Buergler and Marshall Keith—both joined the Lions the same year (2003), taking different roads to get there. Buergler, a walk-on at Purdue who played safety, linebacker, and ultimately two years of backup quarterback, brought a sense of professionalism and leadership to the semi-professional huddle. Keith, who played a couple of years at Tiffin University, found himself back in Lafayette after his mother died and his father got sick. A natural athlete (he’d run a 50-flat 400 meters and high jumped six-and-a-half feet), Keith cut his teeth with the Lions as a safety and a receiver.Even as a backup, Buergler wouldn’t trade his big-time college experience for anything. “People ask me why I wouldn’t go to a smaller school and start, but when you can walk out on the field at Michigan or Notre Dame, there’s nothing else like it.”
After playing on the Brees’ teams of the most recent Boilermaker glory years, Buergler left Purdue with a fist full of bowl rings, including one from the Rose Bowl, and a degree in business management. Since graduation in 2001, he’s worked his way up the ranks of Jimmy John’s, where he’s now an area manager for three stores. He admits the corporate climb has jeopardized his playing time, especially late in the season when the Lions were on playoff runs and the rest of the world was screaming for sandwiches, fast.
Keith started as a bit of an understudy to Buergler, and eventually took over the starting job. I met up with him the other night at Cox’s Pub, where he busied himself behind the bar, settling up with regulars, checking out darts on ESPN, and smoking cigarettes. This is his second stint with Cox’s, a joint known for its karaoke. A self-proclaimed jack of all trades, Keith has also done some carpentry work with his uncle, and he seems like a guy who would throw himself enthusiastically into any type of work. A new daddy, he and his girlfriend have a 4-month-old baby girl, and at 24, Keith isn’t quite sure where the work path will lead.
But as for football, he says he’ll keep playing as long as he’s having fun. It must be a pretty good time so far. As the team’s MVP for 2005, Keith led the Lions to the championship game last season, and he’s hoping for a little revenge from that loss this weekend.
Buergler will miss the game against Mid State Steel, but he has a pretty good excuse. He’s getting married to his college sweetheart, a former MVP from the Purdue softball team. And at 27, as life turns toward family and work, he’s confident of his continued contribution to the Lions, be it as a quarterback or a mentor. “I’m really proud of Marshall,” Buergler says. “He’s been a guy who’s been nothing but a supporter of me. I’ve watched the kid grow over the last few years. He was a raw talent when I first started playing with him. He had a good frame, a good body size, very athletic. I would help him as much as I could at practice and I feel like he’s maybe taken a piece of me to his game.”
Keith will need every inch of that talent—along with an aggressive offensive line, quick and handy receivers, speedy ball carriers, and a stout defense—if the Lions are going to march into Peoria and knock off an arch nemesis. Congrats to Carl and his bride and best of luck to the traveling Lions.