Case Keenum riffed off an old Kanye West track, essentially, when he said in a recent radio interview that, "everything I'm not, made me everything I am."

The new Denver Broncos quarterback confided to the SiriusXM crew that the gut-turning way his 2017 campaign ended -- a 38-7 blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game -- birthed an unrelenting desire to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

“(The Eagles are) a great football team,” Keenum said from the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament in Lake Tahoe. “I think it was their year. I don’t think it was as lopsided as the score has shown, but, man, they were a good football team, they were a great defense. They could rush with their front four and when you can do that and sit back in coverage, it’s tough. And that place was rowdy.

“It was a lot of things, but it left a taste in my mouth to know how to get there and what it takes to get to the next one, the big one. And, man, it left a fire in my belly. I want to get there.”

Keenum was in the midst of a true Cinderella season before it ended not-so-happily-ever-after with that ill-fated contest. The career journeyman, taking over for an injured Sam Bradford, went 11-3 in the regular season and threw for 3,547 yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions, completing a sparkling 67.6 percent of his passes. Minnesota finished with a 13-3 record to earn a first-round bye, established as a legitimate title contender.

His legend grew in the Divisional Round classic against the New Orleans Saints -- known now as the Minneapolis Miracle. Keenum's last-second touchdown to Stefon Diggs, an inexplicable 61-yard catch-and-run, led many to believe the Vikings were destined to become the first team to appear in a Super Bowl on their home turf

Then they ran into the eventual champs. And ... poof ... the magic disappeared.

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Bitter as that defeat was, Keenum skyrocketed his stock at just the right time, hitting the open market as an unrestricted free agent. The QB-needy Broncos quickly came calling, offering a $36 million deal (with $25 million guaranteed) minutes after March's legal tampering window opened.

Denver believes they're not bringing in a one-year wonder on a two-year contract, but a field general who's just now finding his groove. They've said on a number of occasions that Keenum's best football is ahead of him rather than behind. For a franchise not far removed from a title, and with hopes to return atop the mountain, their wagon is fully hitched to his star.

The gravity of the opportunity isn't lost on a guy on his fourth team in seven seasons, who's finally -- finally -- entrenched as The Guy.

“It feels a lot different,” Keenum said. “It’s a great situation. I wouldn’t trade any of the past situations I’ve been in because, because they’ve made me who I am. There’s been a lot of tough times, a lot of times of people maybe looking in on the outside thinking they’re bad times, they’re tough times, but, man, it’s made me who I am and it’s prepared me for this moment. I’m excited to be the Denver Broncos’ quarterback.”