Eric SorensonThe smooth sounds slowly grow louder and louder as I approach the Peoria home.
Inside Sunrise Mountain junior quarterback Keegan Freid is playing something besides football, something over three times his age.
Perfectly placed in the corner of the living room sits a piano which was has already been passed down two generations and was first spotted at a garage sale in a small Arizona mining town back in the late 1950’s.
You probably know Freid as the starter for the unbeaten Mustangs and one-time understudy of Boise State’s Chase Cord, who put up video game-like numbers the past four years at SMHS. However, on this night Freid was working over the ivory keys, not opposing defenses.“I usually just learn off of YouTube videos, that’s how I learned all my songs,” Freid said to Sports360AZ.com shrugging his shoulders. “I never took any classes or anything so credit to HDpiano.”
The QB’s ode to coach Decker??? @stevedecker982 @alex_gianoli @SMHSFootballFam pic.twitter.com/YPFAsZrrMD
— KeeganFreid (@KeeganFreid) August 19, 2017
He also learned watching the man who first introduced him to the piano, his grandfather Dan Kelly whose parents purchased the instrument back in 1957 from a Bisbee pastor who was moving out of the country.
“It did a lot,” Kelly said to Sports360AZ.com of his childhood instrument. “I would sit down at that piano if I had a good day, mom and dad could tell by the way I played. I had a lot of fun with it.”
It’s no surprise Freid was a quick study picking up the finer points as a pianist. He sports a spiffy 3.83 unweighted grade-point-average and is currently in the top 10 percent of his class. He plans on majoring in business management in college.
On the field, self-admittedly, is still a work in progress replacing SMHS’s top player in program history, but the dual-threat Freid has accounted for eight total touchdowns with just one interception entering Friday’s showdown with close neighbor Liberty.
“I’m not a traditional quarterback,” he explained with a chuckle. “I’m not very good at throwing.”
Maybe not yet but his head coach is convinced Freid will continue to develop through the air, partially due to what he learned watching Cord during his prep career.
“I think it was priceless for him,” Steve Decker said to Sport360AZ.com. “Seeing how Chase prepared week-in and week-out is really helping him a ton right now.”
HBD QB1 @KeeganFreid big things ahead little bro. Keep workin✊??? pic.twitter.com/IkKDSiwTA2
— Chase Cord (@Iam_r00k) July 9, 2017
Decker isn’t alone thinking Freid’s best days behind center are still ahead of him.
“Keegan is such a great kid,” Cord said to Sports360AZ.com. “He has such a bright future ahead of him…on the field he plays the game with such passion and determination. He’s going to do great things throughout the rest of his high school career and beyond.”
All while keeping life in balance playing the family heirloom.
Keegan Freid wouldn’t want it any other way.
