Jarrett Stidham cannot win the AFC Championship game. But Stiddy can.
Stiddy is the guy who throws no-look passes in practice and talks smack to the starting defense. He is the good vibes guy, who provides the soundtrack in the locker room and golf course with Mr. Turtle, his white boom box.
He is humble, hardworking and lives life with a smirk that hints of his confidence.
Stiddy will be ready. That was the prevailing opinion of Broncos players on Wednesday.
Stidham is attempting to follow in the footsteps of former New York Giants quarterback Jeff Hostetler 35 years later. And Sean Payton is borrowing from the script written by his mentor Bill Parcells.
Hostetler took over for Phil Simms with two weeks remaining in the 1990 season, fire alarms blaring. The Giants had dropped three of their previous four games, and Hostetler was replacing a former Super Bowl MVP.
At a team meeting the day after Simms was hurt, Parcells addressed his team.
“I stood up in front of the group and said, ‘I just want you guys to know if we lose this game, it’s not going to be because of Jeff Hostetler,” Parcells told The Post, “it’s going to be because one of you dumb mother (bleepers) is doing something (bleeping) stupid.”
The vote of confidence resonates with Hostetler to this day. His coach believed in him. So, too does Payton with Stidham.
“His message to us (Monday) might have been similar,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said with a grin. “Listen, we are not worried about (No.) 8. It’s on us to be accountable and play for each other like we have done all season.”
The words of the coaches remain colorful and crystal clear. The Broncos expect Stidham to play well given his mental aptitude, preparation and personality.
“What’s not fun about this?” Stidham asked rhetorically after Wednesday’s practice.
Well, how about everything? They’re laughing around the NFL at Stidham, at the idea of a quarterback who hasn’t completed a pass in a regular-season game in two years playing his best against the Patriots with the highest of stakes.
You know who is not cackling? Hostetler.
Reached at his home in West Virginia this week, Hostetler admitted the Stidham storyline has brought back a flood of memories. First, he is praying for a full recovery for Bo Nix, “who was having such a great season, so I feel terribly for him.”
In Stidham, Hostetler sees several parallels to his own experience. Hostetler, a third-round pick, was 29 when he stepped into the fire, same as Stidham, a fourth-round selection.
Hostetler was in his sixth season. Stidham as well. Hostetler had made two previous starts, Stidham four. And both played for coaches who were experts at the mental game, famous for pushing the right buttons to motivate quarterbacks and everyone around them.
“Before Simms got hurt, I had told my wife earlier that week that I was done playing. I couldn’t handle the frustration anymore. Lo and behold, the Lord had a different plan for me,” Hostetler said. “Seven weeks later I was standing at a podium with a Super Bowl trophy in my hand.”
Can Stiddy go full Disney? Sure.
But the challenge is daunting. He is jumping on a moving train, trying to match the speed and intensity of teammates who have been on board for five months.
Former players and analysts are quick to compliment Stidham as a pro’s pro, a guy who operates with a slow heartbeat. But none of them is giving Denver a chance on Sunday to upset the upstart New England Patriots.
Hostetler still remembers Hall of Fame coaches Bill Walsh and John Madden saying he had no hope.
“In Stidham’s case, he knows what he has to do. And he has to put the blinders on. That’s what I did. All the talking heads, the ones who supposedly know everything, they don’t know what you can do,” Hostetler said. “Parcells told me, ‘Play within yourself.’ I couldn’t run the routes, block or pick up the blitz. But I could make the reads and put us in the right position. You can’t try to prove yourself. You have to focus on your job.”
Stidham, who is wisely not on social media, repeated that idea multiple times Wednesday. He knows this opportunity could change his life, but he is looking through the lens of this week, not future late night talk show appearances.
Hostetler provided CliffsNotes on how Stidham can walk a narrow path to victory. He did not throw an interception, despite brutal sacks, and fired five touchdowns.
He won five straight games, including at San Francisco in the NFC Championship game, where his mobility provided a difference not available from Simms. Stidham requires two victories for a title, and one, frankly, to be remembered in Denver forever.
Payton was built for this. He talks regularly with Parcells on his way into work. He heeds his advice. And like the “Big Tuna,” Payton is comfortable in a crisis.
He provided a master class last Saturday. After digesting the medical information about Nix’s fractured ankle, he weighed all options — waiting until a Sunday media conference call to address it or after Monday’s team meeting — and quickly agreed that it was best to conduct a second press conference.
He was decisive, and while speaking to the media, he was really speaking to his team. It brought back memories of when Gary Kubiak, the last Broncos coach to win a Super Bowl, committed to a recovered Peyton Manning for Denver’s playoff run a decade ago.
“Watch out,” Payton said of Stidham.
It was not a warning, but a missive, followed by a clear message. Just like Parcells.
“Well, I was trying to show confidence in Hostetler. He had been with us for six years. His teammates knew what he could do. They are smart,” Parcells said. “They had to know we could win with him, and if we didn’t it was because of the other guys.”
Isn’t, I asked, Payton doing the same thing?
“He knows the truth about his players,” Parcells said.
The Patriots, who pursued signing Stidham this offseason as a free agent, will have something nasty in store for the longtime reserve. They rank top 10 in multiple categories, including points per game (18.8) and passing yards against (193.5).
Hostetler stared down worse numbers in the NFC Championship game, facing a 49ers defense that beat the Giants five weeks earlier without allowing a touchdown.
The Hoss pulled it off. Why can’t Stiddy get jiggy with it?
“He has things going for him, like being at home. I hated playing in Denver. Talk about a tough place. It’s hard for an old Raider (1993-96) to say, but the Broncos have great fans,” Hostetler said. “These are the types of games you dream about playing in your whole life. It will be tough to handle. But I am sure he will be prepared. Tell him I said good luck and that I am pulling for him.”
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