Whether he’s channeling Buzz Lightyear or Darth Vader, Drew Lock remains a true son
As a rookie with the Broncos last season, Lee’s Summit and Mizzou-made Drew Lock embraced the identity of Buzz Lightyear from “Toy Story” during some touchdown celebrations.
Nevermind that the gesture actually was a self-deprecating joke, a concession to teammates teasing him about the humongous armband he wears with the play inventory. Guard Dalton Risner (out of Kansas State) had jabbed him about the resemblance in a huddle in practice, he told reporters in Denver last year. Then someone said “to infinity and beyond” … and that was that.
A year later, he’s adopting a starkly different persona — at least when it comes to playing the Chiefs in a matchup that will always reverberate differently than any other for him because of his roots.
So before the Broncos (2-3) meet the Chiefs (5-1) on Sunday in Denver, Lock said he is pleased to “kind of put the Darth Vader mask on and steer away from the Jedi and come to the dark side, so to (speak) over here in Denver. I kind of like playing that guy.”
Emphasis on “playing” that guy.
Because even if you can’t abide that he’s with the Broncos, one of the great things about Lock is that as he’s grown he remains as authentic and candid and refreshing and fun as ever.
Even on a topic that might make others go on automatic pilot or into avoidance mode, he’ll acknowledge that this game is something different.
While Lock knows he “can’t let (his history) change the way I play” and describes it as “a regular game” in which he is called to simply focus on the mechanics of the task, he characterized this game as big in the heart of Broncos country and added, “If you want to look at it from my heart, it might be pretty big, too.”
You don’t just forget or purge the first 21-22 years of your life, he said, “especially because I’m only 23 now” and playing the team he saw in person and cheered on so many times as he began to hope for an NFL future as far back as eighth grade.
None of that is gone or even faded, but it sure has a different context.
“You automatically become the bad guy if you’re from Kansas City and you go play for Denver; it just amplifies it even more that I went to the University of Missouri,” he said during a conference call with Denver and Kansas City media Wednesday. “I was born there, I went there. Never even left. I devoted those 22 years to that state and to that city, and then in an instant it’s gone.”
With a smile, he added, “Like I changed sides there and came to the light over here—the good ol’ Denver side.”
Speaking of light, or a form thereof, Lock’s rise in Denver also has been forged by the fire of having been relegated to the 42nd pick in the 2019 NFL Draft despite being projected higher — a tale told in vivid and eloquent detail by The Star’s Sam McDowell last year.
Lock no doubt also engaged that spirit of proving them wrong from the skepticism of coach Vic Fangio, who in the 2019 fall camp said Lock “isn’t far along as far as being an NFL-ready quarterback as he could have been … He’s not a quarterback yet. He’s a hard-throwing pitcher that doesn’t know how to pitch yet. The faster he gets that, the better off he’ll be and we’ll be.”
But by the end of the season, Lock was the Broncos starter and at the helm for four wins in five games. After throwing five touchdown passes in his first two starts, veteran defensive lineman Von Miller called Lock “a rock star … in the making.”
“I’ve been around a lot of good ones, and they’ve just got this glow about them,” Miller added. “Drew definitely has that. He gets along with everybody in the locker room. He’s just a cool guy. The moment is never too big for him.”
Turned out the Broncos only loss with Lock at quarterback last season was at Arrowhead Stadium, where the Super Bowl-bound Chiefs clobbered them 23-3 with dozens of Lock family and fans in attendance.
To some degree, that group included Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who has a long and ongoing relationship with the family after having coached Lock’s father, Andy, at Missouri.
“I’m pulling for him,” Reid said before that game. “The problem is we’re playing him.”
Inspiring Lock to say “any compliment from Andy Reid is one that you can take to the grave and be proud of,” Reid remains inclined to praise Lock in what has been a scrambled season for him so far.
After missing two-plus games with a shoulder injury, he returned last week to help the Broncos to an 18-12 win at New England. He completed just 10 of 24 passes with two interceptions but also had several potential touchdown passes dropped.
“Certain guys just play big; he is big but he plays big in the pocket,” Reid said. “He’s not flinchy at all … And the beautiful thing is he’s getting better with time.”
Part of that is through the development of his relationship with new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, a former assistant to Reid in Philadelphia. And part of it is in his frequent visits with John Elway, the team’s president of football operations and general manager and certainly a true Darth Vader-like figure to Chiefs fans.
Lock said he typically meets with Elway after every game.
“Kind of just hear what he has to say, what he felt I could’ve done better, what he thought I did well, and stuff to look forward and to do better going into the next week … ” he said. “Emotions are high, it’s a very real moment for both of us.”
Also quite real: The Chiefs have beaten the Broncos nine straight times. And maybe no one has a more personal feeling about making this rivalry relevant again than Lock, who knows he still has plenty to prove overall.
Meanwhile, he might be Buzz Lightyear to one audience, Darth Vader to another now that he takes pride in wearing a Broncos jersey around Kansas City and appreciates the guff his family gets over it all.
“It’s fun, especially (since) I’ve just always been ‘the good guy’ and everyone back in Kansas City says, ‘You’re a true son if you go to Missouri and being from Missouri.’ And that’s just the vibe I got everywhere,” he said. “Now it’s like, ‘You used to be that guy. But now he’s a Denver Bronco.’ ”
Shapeshifting notwithstanding, though, his real identity remains one that’s easy to appreciate.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM.