Meet the parents of KU Jayhawks football hero vs. Texas: ‘It brought me to tears too’
Karen Casey says she had no idea her son, Jared, was on the field when holding up her phone to film Kansas football’s final play in a 57-56 overtime victory Saturday against Texas.
“I just felt like I was going to throw up,” Karen told The Star Sunday afternoon, “because I was so nervous.”
It made what happened a few seconds later all the more memorable.
KU fullback Jared Casey — a walk-on from Plainville, Kansas — came down with the game-winning two-point conversion against Texas.
And Karen and husband, Jerry, slowly realized that fact over the next few seconds ... all while Karen was still recording.
“That was Jared, wasn’t it?”
“Was it?”
“That was Jared!”
“Was it really?”
“That’s my son! That’s my son!”
Jared’s brother, Justin, posted the video on Twitter, where the emotional exchange had already been shared and viewed more than 450,000 times as of early Sunday afternoon.
“It brought me to tears, too,” Karen said of watching it. “Especially my husband’s voice.”
“It was a very special moment for Jared, for us,” Jerry added. “It’s all the hard work we’ve seen him put into what he’s trying to accomplish.”
Jerry and Karen, meanwhile, have been just as dedicated as their son when it comes to KU football.
They’ve made every game this season, which included drives from Plainville — a city of about 2,000 in northwest Kansas — to both Ames, Iowa and Austin, Texas.
And their ride there? That would be their 2010 Kia Sedona minivan, which had just pushed over 264,000 miles when the couple spoke for an interview Sunday afternoon while just north of Waco, Texas — and still 9 1/2 hours from home.
“We’ve had it growing up through rec ball, junior high and high school. We’ve got seven kids,” Jerry said. “We’ve been all over the place: summer basketball, baseball, you name it. It’s been a good vehicle for us, and that’s what we cruise down the road in.”
The Caseys, until this week, had shown up to support their son only during special teams snaps.
Jared, a redshirt freshman, is the signal-caller and one of the personal protectors on the punt team while also playing on the kickoff return unit.
After KU fullback Spencer Roe suffered a season-ending injury in practice, though, and tight end Mason Fairchild was hurt against Texas, Jared moved quickly up the depth chart elsewhere. Saturday’s game was the first time he’d played for KU on offense, and in 20 snaps there, he graded as KU’s third-best offensive player, according to the preliminary grades at Pro Football Focus.
So what was going through Jerry’s mind while screaming to his son on the field afterward?
He said it mostly was remembering his dedication. During breaks when his son returned home from KU, Jerry watched as Jared would go to the local rec center to work out, or down to the football practice field a block from their house to do sprints and agility exercises.
“Just tries to improve with what he’s doing, and what it’s going to take to help KU win football games,” Jerry said. “That’s what he wants to do. Just so proud of the effort and the time that he’s put in to do that.”
Jared became a Jayhawk even when he had other opportunities. Jerry said that Division II schools like Fort Hays State, Washburn and Pitt State had made offers, while junior colleges like Butler also were interested.
When it came down to it, though, Jared loved one school most, accepting a preferred walk-on position with the Jayhawks program.
“He just bleeds KU,” Jerry said.
The Caseys were overwhelmed by the response Sunday. Their other children have been sharing social media posts with them about Jared, while it also seems like everyone in Plainville has texted to offer their congratulations.
Jerry, who works for an electric utility company, and Karen, a retired day-care operator, say they aren’t planning on ending their KU football trips any time soon.
Not only do they travel to support Jared, they say, but also the other players who’ve worked just as hard as he has.
“Through the pains, it’s what makes you see what kind of person you are,” Jerry said. “You get knocked down, you better pull yourself back up and keep working hard. Those things that go wrong are the little things are gonna start going your way. And hopefully last night was an example of that.”
Jerry and Karen said they were able to tell Jared they were proud of him just outside the locker room after KU’s victory.
And now a video being shared across the globe only confirms that support.
“Just unbelievable,” Jerry said. “We couldn’t believe it was Jared that caught that two-point conversion.”
This story was originally published November 14, 2021 at 3:11 PM.
