Three months after his team went to the Super Bowl, Denver Broncos’ quarterback Brock Osweiler was back home in Kalispell talking about a different game plan: financial responsibility for young people. The 2009 Flathead High School graduate teamed up with Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica Lindeen and Visa Inc. to promote “Financial Football,” an educational video game created by the payments technology company and the National Football League.
The May 9 event kicked off a statewide initiative to distribute the video game to every public middle and high school in the state. To drive the point home about the importance of financial responsibility, Osweiler talked about his own experiences with money and budgeting.
“It doesn’t matter if you make $40 a month, $400 a month, $4,000 a month or $4 million a month, you need to set a budget,” Osweiler said.
Osweiler regaled students with a tale of his early days at Arizona State University when he received a monthly check for more than $1,000 as part of his athletic scholarship. Unfortunately, most of that first payment went towards paying for a new television and $80 worth of chicken wings for an unforgettable Super Bowl party. Soon after, though, Osweiler realized his bank account had taken a hit on par with one delivered by an NFL linebacker.
After sharing his own financial story, the quarterback led a group of students in a head-to-head match of “Financial Football” against another group of students being “coached” by Lindeen. The video game was developed with the help of New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees and is similar to other virtual football games except before you can make a play you have to correctly answer a financial question. Since 2006, Visa has partnered with 45 states to distribute the game and the online version has been played more than 650,000 times.
Lindeen said high school students are a tough crowd to engage, but the presence of an NFL star certainly helped. The Broncos picked Osweiler in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Since then he has served as the team’s backup quarterback behind five-time league MVP Peyton Manning. Manning led the Broncos to a Super Bowl in February but the team fell to the Seattle Seahawks, 43 to 8. At 38 years old, Manning is one of the oldest quarterbacks in the league and some have wondered if Osweiler will be stepping up to take the top spot in the coming years, but the Kalispell native was quick to dispel rumors.
“Right now I know my role and that’s to be the backup quarterback, but I’m ready to play,” he said.
Osweiler and his teammates recently returned to the practice field after an off-season break and he said the team is busy lifting and learning plays. Three months after the team’s Super Bowl defeat, Osweiler said expectations are high for the coming season.
However, while he is mostly focused on the season ahead, Osweiler said he was excited to come home and promote educational programs.
“This has been a great opportunity to come back to my hometown,” he said.