Drew Lock got emotional in interview after guiding Seahawks to game-winning TD

It’s been a rough road for quarterback Drew Lock since he left the University of Missouri and joined the NFL in 2019.

Lock, the former Lee’s Summit High School star, had some great moments with the Denver Broncos, but he was later benched and then traded to the Seattle Seahawks.

That was part of the Russell Wilson deal that gave Lock a chance to start in Seattle. Instead, Geno Smith stepped up and led the Seahawks to the playoffs, and Lock never appeared in a game in 2022.

Lock was behind Smith again this season, but got the chance to start Seattle’s Dec. 10 game at San Francisco when Smith was injured. The Seahawks lost that game and Lock wasn’t sure if he would start again.

But Lock got the call Monday and, boy, did he deliver in a big way.

Lock directed a game-winning 92-yard drive in the final two minutes as the Seahawks beat the Eagles 20-17. Lock threw a perfect 29-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba that won it.

ESPN reporter Lisa Salters spoke with Lock after the game, and he got emotional talking about the win and the obstacles he’s overcome.

“Amazing won’t do it justice,” Lock told Salters.

Lock then praised a number of his players and both the offensive and defensive units.

“It takes a special group to rally around a guy that has come into the second game of the year, right?” Lock said. “Used to the same thing all year long, same cadence, same spin on the ball, everything like that. Not just the offense. The defense to rally around me tonight, man, that was amazing.“

Salters noted there was emotion in Lock’s voice and he said that was because of his NFL journey to get to Monday night’s heroics. ESPN’s graphic said it was Lock’s first game-winning drive in 1,142 days.

“It’s been a long time. It’s been a long time,” Lock repeated. “I’m just blessed. I’m just blessed. Blessed to have a great group of guys, a great city. Great coaching staff. It’s awesome.”

After describing the game-winning touchdown pass, Lock was asked to talk about what he was feeling because it was clear he was choked up.

“It’s so hard, it’s so hard to describe the feeling of not playing for so long. For at least what feels like a really long time to me,” Lock said. “And then you sit there you watch games. You wonder, ‘Can I do this still? I haven’t been out there on the field.’ That’s the human nature of it. You get back out there last week. I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m the man, still. I can go do this.’

“And then you got another test this week where I didn’t know if I was gonna play or not. And sure enough I ended up playing, we’re playing the Eagles tonight and the boys around me rallied tonight. And gosh, it just feels so good. I’m so proud of everyone.”

Here is the interview.

Hearkening back to Lee’s Summit

Lock was asked by reporters in a postgame news conference what was going through his mind on that final drive. He mentioned getting his start in the game as a kid in Lee’s Summit.

“I think the thing that you always try to get to as a competitor is when you’re out there on the big stage, the big moment, the two-minute drive to win the game, you’re just not thinking. You’re just reacting,” Lock said. “You’re using all the training, all the instincts that you’ve gained from when I was in third grade (and) started playing football ‘til right now. All the reps that we have in two-minute drives in the indoor where I’m going against the one defense on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

“So really what was I thinking? I wasn’t. I was just flowing, making decisions with the ball and guys were going up and getting it.”