Funny enough, Trent Sieg's week started and ended in Colorado, as the 23-year old long snapper made his NFL debut Sunday afternoon against his hometown Denver Broncos, just 70 miles away from where he grew up in Eaton, Colo.
"It was cool," said Sieg postgame when discussing his first NFL action. "Pregame I saw a big group of my family up in the stands, they were yelling down. After about 20 times of yelling my name I turned around and waved at them, but it was cool to see them. I think it was kind of nice, I played on this field four times before in the Rocky Mountain Showdown against CU [University of Colorado], so I think that kind of helped – I knew the stage wasn't too big."
As Sieg mentioned, he played college football at Colorado State, where he appeared in 51 games as a Ram, ultimately signing with the Baltimore Ravens after going unselected in the 2018 NFL Draft.
The Colorado State-product was then a casualty of the Ravens final roster reductions, but after Andrew DePaolo went down with an injury in the Raiders home opener against the Los Angeles Rams, he flew to Oakland for a tryout, which started a whirlwind week for the Colorado-native.
"On Tuesday I got the call that I was coming in for a workout," Sieg explained. "Came in, got the job, and Wednesday, all the way up until right before the game, just doing my best to learn the system, go over game film, and just try to catch up on everything I missed from preseason and the first week, and try to get my timing down with Mike [Nugent] and with Johnny [Townsend]."
The newest Raiders long snapper played eight special teams snaps in his professional debut, and while the team eventually fell to the Broncos 20-19 on a last-second, Brandon McManus field goal, the rookie long snapper enjoyed a quality start to his career as a Raider.
"I don't think I had any glaring errors that jump out right away," Sieg said. "But obviously I have to go back and watch the film and get better for next week."
Sieg had 13 members of his family in attendance at Broncos Stadium at Mile High to watch him play his first NFL snaps, a meaningful moment to be sure, but likely made a little more special since it came so close to home.
"Right after I got the call that I was coming here for a workout, I looked at the Raiders schedule, and was like, I'll be back here in like four days," Sieg said.
He did indeed return to his home state, this time as a member of the Silver and Black, and while Sieg still has much to accomplish in his career, Sunday's game in Denver will likely always hold a little extra significance.
"I think it was a good start," he said. "I don't think I don't think I could just step right in and replace 'DePo' [Andrew DePaola], and not miss a step because he's a good snapper himself, but as far as the first few days, I think we did a good job of getting a rhythm down and going out there and performing."
Next up for Sieg and the Raiders is a critical Week 3 tilt against the Miami Dolphins; kickoff is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. PT.
