Toby Keith has merged himself with the culture and ethos of school football as seamlessly as imaginable. He was mentioned as a possible successor for Hank Williams for the theme of "Monday Night Football" and famously holds his days as a high school defensive end as some of the best of his life.
Now his son is following in his footsteps, and emerging as a standout in the process.
As reported by the Oklahoman, Keith's son, Stelen Covel, has been named as a player for the U.S. squad in the 2013 Eastbay Youth All-American Bowl. Covel will play on the USA Under-15 team against a squad picked from Canadian All-Stars, and will line up alongside three other players from the Oklahoma City area.
The Eastbay game, which was created to help shine a light on outstanding underclassmen, will take place Jan. 6 at the Alamodome in San Antonio before the U.S. Army All-American Game at the same site.
Covel's selection is hardly a guarantee of future collegiate success, but it is a solid start for a player who has already begun to receive some of his father's physical dimensions. A sophomore on the varsity squad at Norman (Okla.) North High, Covel is a starting defensive lineman who stands 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds.
And while Covel is a huge basketball fan -- you can find a number of photos of Covel with members of the Oklahoma City Thunder -- it's clear that Covel's future is almost certainly on the gridiron, not the basketball court.
That'll all be to his father's pleasure, considering the fact that Keith was already singing about Covel being a football player when he was just 3 years old. Evidently father was just setting the stage for son, with Stelen now making some of those early football omens come true, one game at a time.
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