Toby Keith’s Football Star Son

Toby Keith loves football.  On Saturdays, you’ll see him walking the sidelines at Oklahoma Sooners games.  On Sundays, he roots for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  But on Friday nights, you’ll find him cheering his 17-year-old son Stelen, who plays high school football.  Toby talked about his son with Country Countdown USA’s Lon Helton:

When you watch Stelen, do you sit in the stands or do you roam the sidelines?  “I sit as long as I can, and when it gets to be too much to take, I have to walk it off.  I have to cruise around.  Second grade to 8th grade, I was in the mix as a coach. But we had a lot of success together.  I’m sad he’s a senior, but I’m proud for him, he’s going to move on to college.  We won 4 or 5 championships together, went undefeated in middle school, had a big run together, so it was great father & son got to do that together.

How’s he doing this year? “He’s doing great.  Last game we played we clinched home field advantage, and in the playoffs, if we win the first round, we can go to the final four.  They’re doing great, one of the best teams they’ve had in a long time.

Now do you always agree with the refs when Stelen’s on the field? “I never agree with the refs!  High school refs suck, they’re awful.  We had a game the other night and there were 65 flags.  I had my horses running that same night.  The game started at 5:30, the race started at 7, so I figured I could do both, and they threw 65 flags.  I missed my race!  Are you kidding me?  Are you getting paid by the flag?

So I know you’re a  big OU supporter, and your daughter went to Oklahoma.  How about your son, what choices will he have for college? “He’s getting looked at by some college teams.  He’s thinking about playing college football somewhere.  He’s taking some visits between now and the first of the year.  He’s going to check out some campuses, finish the playoffs in high school, and then he’s gonna go play some ball somewhere.

What are you leaning to for school?  “I’m not.  I’m leaving it all up to him.  It’s important to find the right school that has him academically and the right spot for him in football.  He’s a young senior.  He’s only 17, so he needs a couple years to grow up.  He’s about 265-270, and he’s just 17.  But he’s going to be OK somewhere I think.

With Stelen graduating, what does that mean for touring next year?  “We’ll probably tour more than we did next year.  He played Friday nights, I couldn’t tour Friday nights, now I can go back to hittin’ it.  When you have to dodge one night a weekend, it throws the whole tour off.  I know I did the right thing, but we’ll just be back to normal touring.

Tags: Toby Keith

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