The original plan was to come up to the Valley in the winter, but then daughter No. 2 arrived in November.

The backup plan for Brock Osweiler was to bring his family to Kalispell this past Friday, for the unveiling of a refurbished weight room – the Brock Osweiler Performance Center – at Flathead High School.

When the COVID-19 pandemic nixed that, the retired NFL quarterback on Monday simply took a phone call and talked about the latest contribution to his high school alma mater. It is maybe not the best-kept secret, since the center was seeing ample use before the pandemic.

As makeovers go, it is top-shelf. And it started, Osweiler said, with a phone call from Flathead girls’ track coach Charlie Dotson last June.

“He said, basically, the weight room you had your senior year hasn’t changed,” Osweiler recalled. “And when I was as senior that weight room was 25 years outdated.”

It served Osweiler well enough from 2005-08 – he drew the interest of first Gonzaga basketball and then Arizona State’s football program by the time he graduated. It wasn’t long before his NFL career began with the Denver Broncos, in 2012.

“I thought that’s where you were going to win games,” Osweiler said of the room. “Flathead, Kalispell, that weight room – the people I worked with in that weight room mean the world to me. They built my foundation.”

Dotson was one of those people, a football teammate who graduated a year ahead of Osweiler and played collegiately at UM-Western. He knew his former teammate had already funded the Osweiler Family Scholarship and had contributed more than once to the football team.

But 11 years after Osweiler threw around some plates the place hadn’t changed.

“For a guy who’s 6-foot-7, 6-8, he could move a lot of weight,” Dotson said. “I’m sure that’s why he avoided a lot of injuries. There’s a guy who’s been in the League and taken countless hits.”

“Charlie said, ‘We’re not only doing a disservice to the kids who want to train and try to earn a scholarship, but certain parts might be becoming a safety hazard,’ ” Osweiler said.

Osweiler, who lives in Arizona, was heading to Whitefish for a July wedding so he and Dotson decided to meet then. As luck would have it Anthony Lomando, an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Broncos, was also in the area on vacation.

“Long story short, Anthony, myself, Bryce (Wilson, Flathead’s activities director), Charlie and (Flathead basketball assistant) Phil Jackson all met at the high school,” Osweiler said. “We’re walking around looking at things, and it just clicked.”

It started – and as it turned out, ended – with replacing the floor. The cement subfloor, Dotson said, had myriad problems: It was uneven and there were drains and cracks to be addressed. So while contractors worked through those issues all the weights were moved out for weeks.

When everything – paint, sound system, equipment that was suggested by Lomando – was in place in mid-January, the room only had a few weeks of use before the COVID-19 pandemic stopped everything.

It was a big spend, though Osweiler won’t divulge how big.

“I guess I thought I had a decent idea what a weight room costs,” he allowed, laughing. “Let’s say I was surprised. But I’m very fortunate to be able to do the complete renovation. I hope it lasts a couple good decades and keeps those kids in a safe, productive environment.”

When Flathead High reopens that center will be there – a gem filled with NFL-caliber strength equipment.

“Just a full-on, brand-new strength facility,” Osweiler said. “It was awesome – and it was ultimately from something as simple as a phone conversation.”

“When I was lifting with Brock he always said if he ever made it big, he wanted to donate to the weight room,” Dotson said. “When I reached out he was 100 percent on board.”

“I thought, ‘If I don’t do this, how is this facility going to get renovated,’ ” Osweiler said. “It taught me so many lessons I still keep today. It built the foundation for my career. I want to provide that opportunity for another kid from the Valley to do the same thing.

“To be honest, I can’t wait to see it. It’s something I think about every day. It sounds pretty awesome.”