Osweiler's odyssey returns home

Coming home isn’t always easy.

Brock Osweiler returned to the Denver Broncos last week after an 18-month odyssey that saw the 2009 Flathead grad stop in Texas and Ohio along the way.

On his journey, he encountered a lot of highs and his fair share of lows.

“A lot of things have happened,” Osweiler said in a press conference earlier this week.

“Obviously there’s a lot of negative things that came from last season and a lot of ups and downs, but with that a lot of learning experiences. So because of that, I’m a better player. There was a throw that happened in practice today that I wouldn’t have made a year ago, but because I missed that throw in a game, actually against San Diego last year, and now I understand that defense, I’ve made that throw in stride today. There was also a lot of growth with the negative. I’ve grown as an athlete and I’ve grown as an individual.”

While he’s happy to be back, and the team is certainly happy to have him at the veteran’s minimum, his job in Denver is completely different than when he left.

When he left, he was the unquestioned starter, the hot prospect and the groomed predecessor of a future Hall of Famer.

His year at sea, under the scruitiny and magnifying glass of a handsome paycheck, changed his public perception.

He played in a new offense under a new coach and was given a corps of mostly rookies and first-year starters to work with. He struggled quite a bit, both in his own mechanics and with the mechanics of the new playbook, but still managed to be successful, guiding Houston to the second round of the playoffs, losing to the eventual Super Bowl champions in a close game.

Despite his successes, and partially because of his paycheck, he was sloughed off to Cleveland, which cut him a few months later.

Which freed up Brock to go back to Denver.

There is a new starter for the Broncos, one that isn’t a Hall of Famer, and a new presumed heir.

The job now belongs to Trevor Seimian, Brock’s former backup who handled himself adequately enough as a starter last year, and the heir is Paxton Lynch, who was drafted to replace Brock. Seimian will be the starter until he is forced from the spot and Brock may need to work past Lynch when the second-year player returns from injury.

Brock may need to play along for now, but he’ll have a chance to regain his spot. He’ll probably have to sling some arrows and hit his marks flawlessly to prove he belongs, but the opportunity will provide itself.

The most important part is he is back, and will likely get a legitimate shot at that opportunity. He’s back in a place that wants him and back in a place that he wants to be, surrounded by talent that he knows how to work with.

Now he gets to rewrite his story’s ending, one that with the right plan will put him back on the throne.