Denver Broncos WR/QB Kendall Hinton looks good throwing warm-ups.
For the first time in the lifetime of many Denver Broncos and NFL fans, a non-quarterback will start a football game.
Actually, what practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton is about to do has not been done since 1965.
Hinton is coming off the practice squad with the NFL ruling all four of the Broncos’ quarterbacks ineligible for this game due to COVID-19 protocols. This is a situation the Broncos obviously had hoped to avoid completely, but their worst fears have been realized.
Instead of Drew Lock, Brett Rypien, or even one of Jeff Driskel or Blake Bortles, it’s former Wake Forest QB/WR Kendall Hinton getting the start for the Broncos against the NFC’s top-seeded New Orleans Saints.
Hinton was signed to the Broncos’ practice squad on November 4 after competing with the team in training camp as a wide receiver. He finished his Wake Forest career as a receiver, though he was a State Champion quarterback in high school and that’s how he opened his collegiate career with the Demon Deacons.
Video footage has begun to surface of Hinton getting in his warm-ups before his first-ever NFL action.
He doesn’t look too shabby at all.
Let’s get it, @Kendall_Hinton2‼️ pic.twitter.com/5XYvbKt0G8
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 29, 2020
Money #9sports pic.twitter.com/qVNna5ptAg
— Mike Klis (@mikeklis) November 29, 2020
In a year full of bizarre sports stories, this ranks near the top of the list. Obviously when we’re seeing something that is unprecedented for NFL fans who were born in the Super Bowl era, that is an understatement.
This was not the Broncos’ first choice but the optics make it seem like the NFL is making an example of them for potentially breaking COVID-19 protocol by not wearing their masks enough during meetings.
Denver Broncos: Who is Kendall Hinton, this week’s starting QB?
Who is rookie Kendall Hinton, the Denver Broncos' starting quarterback in a week 12 home game against the New Orleans Saints?
Other teams and even individual coaches (Vic Fangio included) have been fined for mask-wearing infractions, but the NFL requiring this game to go as scheduled is putting the Broncos in one of the rarest positions you will ever see in the NFL.