Page 17 - Flathead Beacon // 12.25.13

BEACON SPECIAL FEATURE | 17

THE LAND OF
THE LAND OF
OZ
OZ

The Flathead Beacon visited the Mile-High City and caught

up with Kalispell native Brock Osweiler to see how he’s

itting into the NFL and learning from a legend

D STORY BY DILLON TABISH
PHOTOS BY GREG LINDSTROM

ENVER — AN HOUR AND 20
competitor. For nearly 30 minutes,
minutes before kick- while the surrounding stadium
of, the stadium was illed with more than 70,000 fans,

tranquil and mostly Osweiler went through a meticu-
empty. The tempera- lous regimen. It seemed to mimic a
tures sank below 20 real game on the same ield where
degrees as the sun Super Bowl champions and Hall of
dropped closer to the Fame quarterbacks have played.
white peaks of the He was absorbed in each pass as if
Rocky Mountains in everything depended on it, like a

the backdrop. Brock kid in his backyard pretending to
Osweiler, wearing play in the big game.
a beanie, coat and Besides pregame warm-ups, it
sweatpants, cast a dis- was the only time he spent on the
tinctive six-yard shad-
ield that day, a common occur-
ow at midield, towering like a statue rence this season — standing on
and linging the football 10, 20, 30 the sidelines watching the game
yards at a time.
unfold. But, as he knows, that

It was gameday inside the high- could change any minute.
rise coliseum of Sports Authority O
Field at Mile High. The NFL sched- NLY FIVE YEARS REMOVED FROM
ule had reached the inal four weeks the halls of Flathead High
of the regular season and the Denver School, “Oz” has settled into
Broncos were jockeying for playof GAMEDAY STUDY SESSION
the fast and furious world of the
position in a chilly afternoon game Backup quarterback Brock Osweiler, a National Football League. He’s
Kalispell native and former Flathead Brave,
against the visiting Tennessee Ti- reviews play-by-play breakdowns after no longer new to town and is ap-
tans.
Denver’s touchdown drive in the irst quarter.
proaching the end of his second
The Broncos’ 23-year-old back-
season in Denver. He feels like he’s
up quarterback was one of the irst
found his groove and igured out
players to arrive at work that day. He
how to make a life for himself here.
usually is. His teammates are accustomed to seeing the tall “I would say from draft day to this point in my second
sapling at the stadium or the practice facility before dawn season, it’s almost night and day compared to when I irst
and past dusk, studying reams of game tape, memorizing the started, as far as my knowledge of the game, my comfort lev-

playbook, taking snaps, lifting weights.
el, what I know of this ofense, how to perform on the ield,”
Gamedays present a unique opportunity for the young
he said after a recent weekday practice. “I’ve grown tremen-