The QB who started Denver’s AFC Championship Game is now doing a meet-and-greet at Panda Express
Jul 21, 2026, 4:01 PM
In a city that watched Jarrett Stidham start the biggest game at Empower Field at Mile High in nearly a decade and produce exactly seven points, the Broncos’ backup quarterback is making his next high-profile appearance at… a Panda Express in Englewood.
Stidham will be at the Panda Express at 2990 S. Broadway from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday (July 23), signing autographs, taking photos and fielding “rapid-fire questions” from fans at an interactive “Hot OC Takes” table — a promotion tied to the return of Panda Express’s Hot Orange Chicken, which the chain says is its best-selling limited-time menu item ever. Fans who participate get a pre-signed autograph, a photo op with Stidham and Panda Express mascot Pei Pei, and a spin on the prize wheel for branded giveaways.
For those who have blocked the memory: On Jan. 25, Stidham was thrust into the AFC Championship Game at Mile High after starter Bo Nix fractured his ankle on the game-winning drive of a 33-30 overtime thriller against Buffalo the week before. Nix — the man who led Denver to a 14-3 record, the No. 1 seed in the AFC and what felt like destiny — watched from the luxury suites while Stidham and the Broncos managed just seven points in a 10-7 loss to the New England Patriots. The Patriots hoisted the Lamar Hunt Trophy on Denver’s own field. As Sports Illustrated put it: “We all know that if Nix had played in that game, the Broncos would have gone to the Super Bowl.”
To be fair to Stidham, no backup quarterback in the NFL is expected to step in cold and win a conference championship game. The man hadn’t thrown a pass in a regular-season game in two years before that start. And he’s still on the roster, still Bo Nix’s backup, and now he’s sitting at a Panda Express in Englewood offering to discuss Hot Orange Chicken and sign autographs. That’s honestly a pretty good gig for a guy whose most memorable moment in Denver involved the worst two hours of every Broncos fan’s season.
