Who says you need a wealth of NFL experience to be considered good enough to start for the defending world champion Denver Broncos? On August 29, head coach Gary Kubiak announced the winner of the starting quarterback job, a position vacated by future Hall-of-Famer Peyton Manning, thus bringing the end of the strenuous four-month competition that stretched through OTA’s, training camp, and three preseason contests. In the September 9 rematch against the Carolina Panthers, and the beginning of Broncos title defense run, the Trevor Siemian era will officially start.

But who is Trevor Siemian, really?

Hailing from Olympia High School in Orlando, Florida, Siemian holds the Orange County records for career yards (6,144) and touchdowns (53) in only three years. He also played baseball and was voted Mr. Olympia by his classmates in his senior year. After receiving offers from Rutgers, North Carolina State, and Harvard, Siemian chose to play in the Big Ten Conference for private school Northwestern University.

As a Wildcat of Northwestern, he only continued to improve and impress. After redshirting in 2010, he took on the role as backup in 2011, playing in eight games and throwing 16-of-26 for 256 yards and three touchdowns and one interception. In 2012, he improved on his performance, completing 58.7% of his passes for 1,312 yards, six touchdowns, three interceptions, and a rushing touchdown, and a Gator Bowl victory against Mississippi State. 2013 was his breakout year as he completed 59.7% of his passes for 2,149 yards, 11 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. 2014 saw him finally earning the starting position, completing 58.2% of his passes for 2,214 yards, seven touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and five rushing touchdowns before a torn ACL ended his college career and he declared for the NFL Draft. He was drafted in the 7th round by the Broncos, the 250th pick overall.

In 2015, his rookie season, he saw action in all four of the Broncos preseason games, completing 23 of his 40 attempts for 283 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, and an overall quarterback rating of 85.7, raising eyebrows, yet still remaining number three on the depth chart. Siemian did manage to get into a regular season game; One snap for -1 yards on a kneel-down play to end the half against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This, and his simple presence on the roster earned him the exact same diamond-studded ring with a large golden 50 that Manning himself earned. Siemian is technically a Super Bowl champion, so at least he’s got that going for him.

As the offseason kicked off, Siemian found himself the only quarterback on the Denver Broncos roster as Manning retired and Brock Osweiler, the backup for four years, fled into the open and high-paying arms of the Houston Texans. The Broncos responded quickly, trading a conditional seventh-round pick to Philadelphia for nine-year veteran Mark Sanchez and then later making a trade with Seattle in the first round of the draft to pick up impressive and promising Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch. The media assumed Sanchez would be the starter, brushing Siemian aside as a simple afterthought, even saying he was number three behind Lynch by parroting the thought that if the season goes south, why not get the rookie some experience? Siemian responded in the preseason, going 27-for-43 for 285 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and a rating of 70.4. His confidence, as well as that of the first-team offense, grew with every drive, as he led the team on two touchdown and three field goal drives across the three games in which he put in work. Meanwhile, Sanchez stumbled, bumbled, fumbled, and intercepted himself a ball cap and clipboard on his way to Dallas for another backup job.

As Siemian lines up under center to take the first snaps of the season Thursday against Carolina, Broncos country can once again exude an air of confidence about their team. They have a defense that you can never count out, and now they have a starting quarterback who carries that same message. After grinding his way through this competition, don’t ever count out Siemian.