Chad Beebe (born June 1, 1994) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

wide receiver who is a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He played college football at

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by t ...

Early life and high school

Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, Beebe attended Aurora Christian Schools, where he played football for his father

Don Beebe Donald Lee Beebe (born December 18, 1964) is an American football former wide receiver and coach who is the head football coach at Aurora University. He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily with t ...

. Beebe holds school records for most catches and receiving yardage in a career and set a school single-game record with four touchdowns. In his senior season, Beebe caught 65 passes for 980 yards and 15

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

and earned IHSA All-State honors as the Eagles won the 2012 Illinois Class 3A title.

College career

Beebe spent five seasons with the Huskies, redshirting his senior season due to an offseason injury. Over the course of his collegiate career, Beebe had 64 receptions for 930 yards and three touchdowns while also returning 48 punts and 12 kickoffs for 329 and 297 yards. He wore 82, his father's number from the NFL, while at Northern Illinois.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Beebe signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on May 7, 2018 after participating in a rookie minicamp with the team. He was cut from by the Vikings at the end of training camp and subsequently signed to the team's practice squad on September 2, 2018. Beebe was promoted to the Vikings' active roster on November 3, 2018 after an injury to wide receiver

Stefon Diggs Stefon Marsean Diggs (born November 29, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Maryland, and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round ...

. He made his NFL debut the following day in a 24-9 win against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

, catching three passes for 21 yards. As a rookie, Beebe played in three games with four receptions for 39 yards and missed five games due to a hamstring injury. On September 24, 2019, Beebe was placed on injured reserve after suffering torn ligaments in his ankle. Beebe caught two passes for 70 yards, returned one kickoff for 13 yards and returned seven punts for 46 yards with three fumbles in three games played in 2019. In Week 12 of the 2020 season, Beebe scored a late go-ahead touchdown, which was also the first of his career, on a ten-yard reception from

Kirk Cousins Kirk Daniel Cousins (born August 19, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan State and was drafted by the team then known as the Washingto ...

to secure a 28–27 victory over the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

, overcoming a muffed punt minutes earlier that had set up a Panther's field goal. Beebe scored a touchdown on a 40-yard catch and run from Cousins in the final game of the season against the

. He finished the season with 20 receptions for 201 yards and two touchdowns and nine punts returned for 42 yards. The Vikings initially declined to tender Beebe after the 2020 season, making a free agent, but quickly re-signed him to a one-year contract on March 17, 2021. Beebe was waived/injured on August 31, 2021, by the Vikings and placed on injured reserve.

Houston Texans

On June 10, 2022, Beebe signed with the Houston Texans. He was released on August 15, 2022.

Personal life

Beebe is the son of former NFL wide receiver

, who played nine years for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

, and

and appeared in six Super Bowls. Beebe is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

References

External links

NIU Huskies bioMinnesota Vikings bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beebe, Chad 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Aurora, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois American football wide receivers Northern Illinois Huskies football players Minnesota Vikings players Houston Texans players