Brock Osweiler: So What Do We Know About This Dude?

Tonight the New England Patriots face off with the Denver Broncos. The game takes place in Colorado and Peyton Manning is out with all kinds of injuries. Enter 25-year-old Brock Osweiler, who’s making his 2nd career start, fresh off being named AFC Player of Week.

He looked good against Chicago last Sunday, with a 127.1 passer rating overall, but Bill Belichick and the Patriots have a reputation for making life very difficult for inexperienced QBs. They head to Denver looking to knock Osweiler off his high horse and keep this undefeated season going. Here’s a few things you should know (or maybe don’t need to know at all) about the player some have simply dubbed B.O.

• The Brockanator’s one large fellow.

Some sources have Osweiler listed as tall as 6’8″. That puts him right up there with the most towering guys in the history of the position. Back in 1991, the Seattle Seahawks took slugger Mark McGwire’s little bro Dan with the 16th overall pick. He’s also 6’8″ and threw just 2 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in 13 career games, before calling it quits after 5 seasons. Big Brock’s already got him beat in the career TD department, but he still has some work to do repairing the rep of especially tall signal callers, which McGwire did quite a number on.

• We can’t say for sure, but it’s likely Brocktimus Prime really loves to party.

After rocking the Montana high school football scene, Osweiler received scholarship offers from a bunch of schools, including the academically prestigious Stanford and traditional NCAA powerhouse Florida State. He gave both the cold shoulder and instead opted to toss the pigskin at Arizona State, a school with a proud reputation of being among the nation’s wildest. I mean, that had to have something to do with his decision. Who wouldn’t want get down with year-round pool parties, cops playing beer pong, and the admiration of Snoop Dogg?

• Brock-a-doodle-doo wants his blowout game PT.

The Broncos annihilated the Oakland Raiders in a mid-November game last season, beating them 41-10 late in the 3rd quarter. Like any eager backup, Osweiler thought his time had come. After an Oakland punt, he removed his baseball cap, did a little jogging in place, and retrieved his helmet from the bench. But by the time he turned to the field, with a noticeable grin on his face, Peyton Manning was already heading back onto it. The smile vanished and Osweiler was clearly dismayed, throwing up a hand and shaking his head like Peyton just stole his prom date, outjocked once again by the future Hall 0f Famer. All this was captured from multiple angles. Osweiler could have the last laugh though if he continues to play well.

• The Brocket Launcher tried to foil the Patriots once before.

Back in 2013, the Broncos turned to Osweiler in overtime of a matchup with New England. The game was tied at 31 and Stephen Gostkowski was lining up for a 31-yard field goal to win it for the Pats. Denver decided to send the 6’8″ Osweiler out onto the field to try and block the chip shot. I’ll admit he did raise his arms and jump, but it wasn’t the most inspired effort. Gostkowski banged it through and the Patriots won. Tonight Brocky O will get another shot, this time as more than just the tallest available playable object. We’ll see if he can keep pace with the champs.

Next: Patriots: Who Steps Up In Danny Amendola's Absence

Special thanks to SB Nation and the Twitterverse for a truly impressive collection of Brock monikers.