Trevor Siemian has flown under the radar nationally since entering the league, but that is starting to change.

Trevor Siemian has mostly been a phenomena for those fans who call the Denver Broncos their favorite team. Most everywhere else, the name Siemian garnered elementary age sneers or mainstream media disregard.

Not anymore.

In a great breakdown of Siemian’s football journey, Sports Illustrated’s Robert Klemko painted a one-of-a-kind story of Trevor’s rise from college backup to NFL starter.

Siemian’s road to the NFL began in earnest when Greg Knapp, then Denver’s QBs coach, visited Evanston, Ill., in the spring of 2015 for a post-pro day workout set up just for the QB, who was still limping from ACL surgery. Knapp, the only coach in attendance, had been tasked with identifying a passer to back up Manning (in what would turn out to be his final season) and Brock Osweiler (a ’12 second-round pick), and he came away impressed with Siemian’s football acumen.

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At pick No. 247, Siemian finally got a call from the Broncos’ war room. “Knapp said, ‘Trevor, I’m pounding my fist on the table,’ ” Colleen recalls. “ ‘I want them to draft you, but if they don’t, you’re gonna be a preferred free agent with us.’ ”

Siemian has had to fight for every inch he has gotten in the NFL. That’s the difference between most third-string seventh round quarterbacks and the only third-string seventh round quarterback to eventually earn a starting job in the NFL.

Part of that rise involved picking the brain of Peyton Manning and learning from one of the greatest of all-time on how to conduct himself in his preparation and menality to perform at a high level in the NFL.

Siemian likes to involve his family in his game-day preparation, going over plays with his father, Walter, in a hotel room. Walter will read a play call and Trevor will talk through the scenarios. But when Manning phones, Walter steps into another room. “[Trevor] is very private about that. He won’t share what Peyton says, and I don’t ask,” says Colleen. “I think Peyton respects that about him.”

Manning, in an interview with the NFL Network this offseason, said he realized Siemian was special when he saw him visualizing plays without the aid of a playbook or film. The successful passers, Manning said, can play the game in their minds.

The entire post is one of the better reads on Siemian I’ve seen and every Bronco fan should take a few minutes to give it a look.

Siemian has a tougher road to super stardom than the Manning’s or the Tom Brady’s of the world, but he has the right mindset. That mindset now must be translated into consistent on-the-field play.

So far, so good.