April 19, 2016 Followup!
Well, Brock Oswieler left the Denver Broncos for a better opportunity…the Houston Texans…huh? Two numbers to remember here – FOUR and SEVENTY-TWO. That’s FOUR years and an estimated SEVENTY-TWO million dollars. Denver’s offer was THREE years and FORTY-FIVE million dollars, a difference of three million dollars a year. So all this talk about Brock learning from the best and carrying on with the Broncos just won’t happen. Whether he can make the Texans into a winning team is still to be determined, but he will be making more money in a place where playing in low oxygen and freezing temperatures just does not happen.
Congratulations to the Texans and to Brock Osweiler. Good luck with that!
Personal Tagline – Easygoing, Expressive, Existential Even if you don’t follow professional football, you have to know that the NFL Championship Game – the Super Bowl – is coming up soon. The Carolina Panthers will meet the Denver Broncos to decide which team is the best for the 2015-16 season. This classic matchup puts two teams against one another with great defenses and spotlight quarterbacks – Cam Newton vs. Peyton Manning.
Newton is a twenty-six-year-old quarterback in his fifth year in the league, definitely in the prime of his time in the NFL. Manning is thirty-nine years old and at the end of his 
NFL playing career that started in 1998. In the past five years, Manning has been injured, undergoing neck surgery in 2011 and making a miraculous comeback to football. In this Super Bowl season, he suffered a debilitating foot injury before the Week Ten game, keeping him out until Week Seventeen. Backup Quarterback Brock Osweiler came in to take over the faltering team.
Brock Osweiler is the focus here – a relatively unknown third-year player who had a 
couple of starts prior to this championship year. He led the team in seven games down the stretch, winning five of them. In Week Seventeen, Peyton Manning returned to the helm, winning through the playoffs and getting them into the Super Bowl.
Without Brock Osweiler, the Denver Broncos would most definitely NOT be in the Super Bowl this year. He is a good quarterback with a bright future in the NFL, but he and his work have been overshadowed by the “senior citizen” Manning. Brock has the team on a roll, headed for the playoffs, only to be replaced at the last minute. How does that make him feel?
There are many different directions that he could go with this. First, he could be immature, silently second-guessing the plays and the performance of Manning from the sideline through the playoffs. (“He should not have thrown that pass. I could have avoided that sack. I would not have done it that way.”) Second, he could realize that he is in the last year of his contract with the Broncos; know that there are a lot of teams looking for a starting quarterback for next season; and prepare himself to bolt from the Broncos on the first opportunity; or third, he could watch the Master, Peyton Manning, who even in his twilight years is one of the smartest quarterbacks to ever run an offense in the NFL – and learn. And, prepare to take over the Broncos when Manning is finished.
I don’t know which path Brock has chosen, and it will be interesting to see what he has decided to do going forward. He has been able to work with one of the best, practice his craft, and even show that he can do some great stuff on the field. What he does with all that depends on his attitude.
Too many young people – in business, sports, and life – seem to want to rise to the top immediately without the apprenticeship that is required to get it right. Five hundred years ago there were apprentice/journeyman/master programs that created trades people of remarkable skill, precision and imagination. We seem to be missing that in today’s society. Let’s hope that Brock has chosen to learn from one of the best in his business. It will suit him well, and he will have a long and fruitful career.
A side notes here…Aaron Rogers of the Green Bay Packers was the backup to Brett Favre for three seasons prior to taking over the team in 2008, leading them to his first Super Bowl victory at the end of the 2010 season. How did that work out?
Where you end up in life is all about attitude. We never stop learning. Whether we learn to be better or learn to give up, well, that is up to your attitude. As we get older, we also have to realize that there is someone out there who will look to YOU for help in learning to be better, and YOUR attitude will determine whether you help them get better or help them give up.
Brock has admitted that Peyton Manning has been a friend and a mentor in his football career and his life. So, be Peyton Manning to someone.
Inspiring Life Over 50! 