People think it’s Peyton and the peons, but that isn’t the case, not here in the Dove Valley quarterbacks room, a fraternity house of sorts, where they spend more time awake than in their own houses.
“The quarterback room, in certain aspects, is a brotherhood — there are times when we’re in the quarterback room together at 6 a.m., you know?” Broncos backup quarterback Brock Osweiler said Monday. “There are times during training camp when we’re in the quarterback room at 10 p.m. … It’s a really tight group, and you could feel it today without Zac being in the meeting. Something didn’t feel right.”
Monday morning, Denver quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp texted the news to Osweiler and Peyton Manning. Carla Dysert, the mother of Broncos practice-squad quarterback Zac Dysert, died in Ohio in a car crash. She was 56.
A loss in Dysert’s family also is a loss in the Broncos’ family. No, the fans don’t really know Dysert, the 24-year-old backup’s backup. As Osweiler said, “So many people watch the game on Sundays, and that’s what they know — but there’s so many other hours spent within that building together, going back to April.
“To be honest with you, I’m still kind of in shock about the whole thing. It’s something that really keeps everything in perspective. We all get wrapped up with what’s going on with football, the game and who we’re playing this week. But when something like this happens, it really just shows you how much you need to treasure every single day — and the relationships that you have, because you never know when something like this might happen. I had the pleasure to know Zac’s mom on just a very small scale, and I’m just really in shock.”
Dysert flew home Monday. Can you imagine being on that flight? Sitting there, knowing what you’re going to? His mother was pronounced dead at the crash site, after a driver lost control of his car and went over the center line into the path of Carla Dysert’s SUV.
Not only did the Bronco lose his mother, he lost her in an instant. Football players are famously tough, but this one, man, is going to be intensely brutal for Dysert. Raw. Imagine having to tell your mother goodbye after she’s already gone.
He will have the support of his brothers. Fans think of the Broncos’ group of quarterbacks as a trio, but really it’s a sextet — Manning, Osweiler, Dysert, Knapp, offensive assistant Brian Callahan and quality control coach Bo Hardegree, quarterbacks all. Their quarterbacks room is smaller that you would think, a square-shaped office with white walls, featuring a few framed photos of the group. There also are six sharp plaque-type pics that Manning had posted on the wall. Each shows the quarterback in college with his name, school and years played. Manning held a mini-unveiling ceremony, covering each with a cloth and pulling it off, one by one, while announcing the man’s college accomplishments, not unlike some awards show.
They work hard, but they have some fun doing it. That’s why the loss of Dysert’s mother is truly felt in here. It’s not just like the random guy in the cubicle down the hall had a loss in the family. A brother lost his mother.
“It’s like sitting down to Thanksgiving and your brother wasn’t at the table,” Osweiler said. “Our thoughts are with him. I can’t imagine what he’s going through.
“Obviously Peyton is married with a family, I’m getting married at the end of the season and Zac is single, so your football team is like your family. We spend so many hours in the building. We just spend countless hours together, whether it’s the meeting room, the weight room, traveling — I sit next to Zac on the plane — whatever the case may be. We understand how hard it is to play this position, so we all respect one another. And we all just have each other’s back.”
Benjamin Hochman: bhochman@denverpost.com or
