How Drew Lock is preparing for his first of potentially many trips home

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Growing up, Drew Lock was a big-time Kansas City Chiefs fan, a “pretty passionate” one to be exact. He’s been to Arrowhead stadium “too many [times] to count.”

On Sunday, he’ll be tasked with beating down that very team he loved so much as a kid. To make it even grander, he’ll be doing it as a member of the hated Denver Broncos.

“It’s a cool thought,” Lock said on Wednesday, decked out in Orange & Blue, fully embracing the juicy storyline. “Especially, you know, you went to Mizzou and you stayed at home during college too and this is my first time out and then going to the team within the division, I think that’s pretty cool to be able to have the opportunity to just be able to go home and play against the Chiefs and be in front of some of your friends and family.”

A short 15-miles away from where Lock’s return will take place at Arrowhead Stadium is Lee’s Summit High School, where Drew was a star multi-sport athlete.

After basketball games at Lee’s Summit, Drew would go across the street with a couple of buddies to their neighborhood Applebees, load up on their half-price apps after 9:00 PM, order a kiwi lemonade and “go to town.”

Five years later, Drew will have just a slighly different pre and post-game approach as he plays another game in his hometown on Sunday in front of his friends and family.

A few differences include he’ll arrive at the game via a chartered flight instead of the charter ride from mom, he’ll be wearing an Orange & Blue jersey instead of red and gold and he won’t be the hometown hero the crowd will be cheering for.

“It’s going to be different,” the 23-year old said on Wednesday with a big smile.

This won’t, however, be Lock’s first time inside Arrowhead. Cheering on the, dare I say, Chiefs, Lock’s been inside the well-known stadium “too many times to count.” But it won’t be the first game he’s played there as his Missouri Tigers beat BYU 20-16 at Arrowhead when Lock was a freshman.

“I hope if [fans] walk in there [on Sunday] with a Broncos jersey that’s got a No. 3 on it that they only cheer for the Broncos because I would appreciate that a lot,” Lock said, jokingly pleading with the few Chiefs fan he’s converted to Broncos fans. “It’s already going to be loud enough as is, so maybe if we can turn over 50 of the Chiefs fans that would have been in there it’ll help us out in the long run.”

While Drew’s mom, Laura, and his dad, Andy, won’t have to drop Drew off for the noon-local-time game as they did a decade ago, they’re not completely off the hook preparing Lock for his big return.

“My mom has handled the tickets from the beginning so I can avoid that whole hassle,” Lock said with relief. “You can turn the phone off, you can do whatever. The people that know you, that you trust, your family, your close friends, they know not to blow you up about coming home, asking you for tickets, asking for this, asking for that. They know you have something going on and that you have a game to play and that you need to stay focused on that.”

Sunday will be remembered by Lock’s 50 friends and family that attend the game for quite some time, regardless of the outcome. If Lock and the Broncos somehow pull off the miraculous upset, it’ll be a day remembered in Broncos Country for ages, especially since it would go a significant way in Drew establishing himself as Denver’s next franchise quarterback.

The rookie’s preparation for Sunday wouldn’t even slightly suggest the game’s anything special.

“Oh, I think we all make a little too much of it. It’s just another football game,” Lock said, shrugging off all of the extra storylines. “Gotta prep like I did the first two weeks and just be ready to go.”

Lock’s not just returning to his hometown. He’s coming off one of the best performances by a rookie in Broncos history. In fact, in Sunday’s 38-24 win over the Texans, Lock became the first rookie in NFL history to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in his first road start.

For a variety of reasons, this week is about as abnormal as they come. But Drew’s approaching it the exact opposite.

“I did my normal routine last night, did my normal routine Monday and just trying to keep things normal this whole week,” Lock stated normally. “Just try to be dialed in on the film, being super locked in. No distractions kind of deal where you can go in and have a pretty clear mind about what’s going on.”

A locked-in Lock, that’s what Drew’s saying the Broncos are getting this week. So far, so good in the eyes of Vic Fangio, too, as Drew’s head coach said he’s handled the week full of hype well.

One week ago, there was a similar storyline with Kareem Jackson returning to play his former team. The night before the game, Von Miller told the team that Sunday was going to be for Kareem. Lock’s sensed his teammates are bringing a “little bit” of the same approach for him this week.

“You get a couple of sly remarks in the locker room,” Drew said with a smirk. “I’m going to do the same thing Kareem did. I’m going to keep it very simple, very not about me, that it’s just another game that we got to go play and that we got to go try and win and if it does end up happening where we win, guys will celebrate me like they did Kareem.”

Kareem was celebrated by Von Miller hoisting him in the air in the middle of the winning locker room, taking home a game ball from Fangio and being named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week, although that honor was all on him.

A game ball and Von’s shoulders could be in play for Lock if he takes the hearts out of his childhood team. That’s a lot of pressure on the rookie’s shoulders.

“Drew’s just got to be able to handle that,” Fangio said on Lock returning to his hometown. “Gonna have to do it once a year now for—” Vic said, stopping himself shortly before crowing Lock as “The Guy” for a set amount of time.

“So, he’s just got to do it,” Fangio resumed.

Vic nearly declared Lock Denver’s starting quarterback of the future. A win on Sunday would go a long way in helping Vic finish that sentence.

Applebees won’t be in play for Drew after Sunday’s game, but a free catered meal on a chartered flight back to his new home will certainly do, especially if No. 3 leaves his childhood team with an L.