Trevor Siemian has come a long way since he was 11th in the B1G in passing at Northwestern. The seventh-round pick is 2-0 in his first career starts for the defending Super Bowl champs, both of which came against former No. 1 overall picks.

Before that, Siemian was just a guy trying to get on a practice squad. His goal was to learn as much of the offense as possible. That, of course, meant absorbing what he could from Peyton Manning.

As Siemian explained on the “Dan Patrick Show,” his welcome to the NFL moment was his first interaction with Manning. Siemian ran into Manning in the Broncos cafeteria, which prompted a question from the future Hall of Fame QB.

“How’s Pat doing?” Manning asked.

Siemian didn’t know who he was talking about. He went through his rolodex in his head and tried to figure out who in the world this “Pat” was. Then it dawned on Siemian.

Manning meant “Pat Fitzgerald.”

In Siemian’s defense, he never calls him “Pat.” He always addresses him as “Coach Fitz.” It never occurred to him that Manning even knew each other.

Fitzgerald’s last collegiate game was against Manning’s Tennessee squad in the 1997 Citrus Bowl. Manning actually torched Northwestern for four touchdown passes and over 400 yards that day.

Siemian was five years old at the time. But the interaction was a reminder Manning knows everyone.

“That’s the moment where I was like, ‘Ok, this is the real deal,'” Siemian said on the Dan Patrick Show.

Here was the full interview with Siemian: