Denver’s Drew Lock has big day in joining short list of NFL starting QBs from KC area
.JPG "Broncos quarterback Drew Lock passes under pressure form Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Melvin Ingram Sunday in Denver.")
Drew Lock became the latest former Missouri standout to start an NFL game when he made his pro debut Sunday for the Denver Broncos against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Lock, the Broncos’ second-round draft pick in April, was activated off injured reserve last Saturday after suffering a thumb injury in the preseason. Joe Flacco started the season for Denver (4-8). Brandon Allen had started the Broncos’ previous three games, going 1-2.
Lock had a big day, throwing two touchdown passes as Denver won 23-20 on a last-second field goal. He was 18 of 28 for 134 yards and an 84.5 passer rating.
Lock is the Broncos’ seventh starting quarterback since Payton Manning retired in 2016. And he’s the third former Missouri quarterback to start an NFL game in the last decade, following Blaine Gabbert and Chase Daniel.
Also, Lock, who played at Lee’s Summit High, is at least the fifth player from a Kansas City-area high school to start an NFL game, and the first since Josh Freeman. Freeman, the former Grandview High and Kansas State standout, started 61 games and threw for 13,873 yards and 81 touchdowns, mostly for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009-2015.
Before Freeman, the careers of three high school quarterbacks from the area overlapped for a few seasons.
John Hadl spent 16 seasons with the Chargers, Rams, Packers and Oilers. The former Lawrence High and Kansas product was the Chargers’ starter in the 1965 AFL Championship Game. He finished with 33,503 passing yards in 166 career starts.
Lynn Dickey led Osawatomie High to a state championship and was Kansas State’s career passing leader until Freeman broke his mark in 2008. Dickey’s 13 NFL seasons were spent with the Houston Oilers and Green Bay Packers. He logged 111 career starts and 23,332 passing yards.
In 1976, Hadl and Dickey were part of a Packers-Oilers trade that started Dickey’s career in Green Bay.
From 1975-77, Dickey and Hadl were joined in the NFL by Steve Grogan from Ottawa High and Kansas State. Grogan started his 16-year career with the Patriots in 1975 and accumulated 26,886 yards and 182 touchdown passes. He didn’t start but got more playing time than starter Tony Eason in the Pats’ Super Bowl XX loss to the Chicago Bears.
This story was originally published December 1, 2019 at 2:05 PM.