Broncos' Paxton Lynch's Friends, Family In Attendance For NFL Debut

How's this for fate ...

When Paxton Lynch was called off the Broncos bench to make his unexpected NFL debut this weekend, 100 of his closest friends and family members just happened to be in the stands.

Here's the deal ... the Broncos were playing in Tampa Bay -- about 90 minutes from where the Denver rookie went to high school.

100 of the QB's closest friends and family decided to buy tickets to the game to support their boy -- knowing he's the 2nd string QB behind Trevor Siemian ... who's been on fire lately.

Fast forward to the 2nd quarter -- Siemian goes down, Paxton goes in and balls out -- 14 of 24 for 170 yards and a TD ... and his cheering section LOVED IT!!!

"We weren't even expecting him to play," Paxton's mother, Stacie, tells us ... "We just went to show support, and were lucky enough to see him get some action."

"He was excited everyone was able to come!"

We also spoke with Lynch's high school coach, Allen Johnson, who says he wasn't surprised by Paxton's performance -- he'd been preparing like crazy for that moment.

"I talked to him after the game yesterday briefly," Johnson said ... "He said he’s going to be there for the team and not be the reason why they don’t make it back to the Super Bowl."