We're midway through October, but Brocktober has officially reached its end.
Veteran quarterback Brock Osweiler told 9News' Mike Klis on Wednesday that he is retiring after seven-plus seasons in the NFL.
"I'm extremely grateful for the time I did receive playing in the National Football League," Osweiler told Klis. "The experiences I did have, people I did meet, relationships I did make -- I'm not going to dwell on the things that didn't happen in my career."
At the intersection of many points of transition in the NFL in the mid-2010s, Osweiler will likely be best remembered for his role on the 2015 Denver Broncos.
Osweiler entered the pros in 2012 as a second-round pick of the Broncos out of Arizona State. For three seasons, he backed up the great Peyton Manning, who Denver acquired in 2012 to great fanfare, and rarely saw the field.
That was until 2015, when Manning, then 39 years old, saw his production fall off a cliff. Osweiler took over for Manning midway through a Week 10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and led the Broncos to a 5-2 record over their final seven games, securing the AFC's top seed entering the postseason. But Osweiler was replaced by The Sheriff for the playoff run after suffering an MCL strain in the season finale. Manning went on to "lead" the Broncos to three straight wins and a victory in Super Bowl 50.
That following offseason, Manning retired and the free-agent Osweiler was the focus of a bidding war as one of the rare starting-caliber QBs to hit the open market. Though Denver offered Osweiler a significant deal, the quarterback eventually signed with the Houston Texans on a four-year, $72 million deal with $37 million guaranteed.
"It was extremely unfortunate we were not able to come to a deal in Denver because I absolutely love that organization, love that city," Osweiler told Klis. "But that's the business side and how things work out. As far as my time in Houston, it was a learning experience that will carry me through the rest of my life."
The results did not live up the pay day and Osweiler's stay in Houston was short-lived.
Osweiler started 14 games for Houston in 2016, leading the Texans to an AFC South title and a Divisional Round exit at the hands of New England. Osweiler threw 15 TDs to 16 INTs on the year and tossed three picks in the season's final game. Houston moved on from Osweiler in the offseason, trading the QB (and his massive cap hit) to the Cleveland Browns. Osweiler was cut by the Browns before the season and picked back up by the Broncos.
Osweiler's strange odyssey through professional football ended in Miami, where in 2018 he started five games for the injured Ryan Tannehill and led the Dolphins to a 2-3 record.
Osweiler went unsigned in the 2019 offseason and has now chosen to call it quits.
The 6-foot-7 QB leaves a long and lasting shadow in the game, as the man who kept Denver's Super Bowl run afloat in 2015, the QB who preceded Deshaun Watson in Houston and the centerpiece of the most creative trade of Cleveland's Sashi Brown era.
Osweiler's final line: 15-15 record, 59.8 completion percentage, 7,418 passing yards, 37 TD, 31 INT, $41.4 million in the bank (per Spotrac), one Lombardi Trophy.
"I have my health. I have the ring. There's a lot of things I still wanted to accomplish. And I have a lot more left in the tank," Osweiler told Klis. "But, hey, sometimes you don't get that opportunity. And given that, it's all good."
