HEADLINE

Like father, like son: WR Beebe catches on with Vikings

Field Level Media

June 15, 2019 at 3:38 pm.

Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski remembers when undrafted free agent Chad Beebe showed up for a long-shot audition to make the team.

Beebe had a famous last name, but Stefanski knew little else about the undersized wide receiver from Northern Illinois.

“He showed up last season at rookie minicamp and he really didn’t have a name for himself,” Stefanski told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “He was just Don Beebe’s son.”

Much has changed since then. When the Beebes celebrate Father’s Day this weekend, there will be two NFL receivers in the family, not just the former Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers wideout who caught 219 passes for 3,416 yards and 23 touchdowns over a nine-year career.

With training camp a little more than a month away, Chad Beebe, 25, is the favorite to win a job as the Vikings’ slot receiver, the Pioneer Press reported. Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs are established as one of the league’s best one-two punches at receiver, and Beebe appears to have surpassed Laquon Treadwell on the depth chart.

“He has had probably as good an offseason as any player that I know on our side of the ball,” assistant head coach Gary Kubiak told the newspaper. “He’s got a chance to be a really good player for us. It gives us flexibility to bounce around personnel-wise.”

Beebe caught only four passes for 39 yards in three games last season, which was interrupted by a hamstring injury.

The 5-foot-10, 183-pound receiver said he feels more confident now and is eager to build upon his rookie learning experience.

“Naturally, the nerves were there last season because I was out there trying to make a name for myself,” he said to the newspaper. “Not saying I’m not still trying to do that. It just helps to have some experience under my belt and some playing time. I’m able to take a deep breath every so often and enjoy it and have fun and play the way I know I can.”

Is Beebe focused on winning the No. 3 receiver job this summer?

“Honestly, I don’t even pay attention to it,” he said. “Looking back on it, the way I got here, and the way I stayed here, was going out there and doing the best I can and letting everything else fall into place. That’s what I’m going to continue to do.”

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