Referee will always remember an apology from quarterback who’s bound for Hall of Fame

In his 18 years as an NFL referee, Butch Hannah worked 14 playoff games and was an alternate for two Super Bowls — the ones Peyton Manning was victorious with the Indianapolis Colts (XLI, 2007) and the Broncos (50, 2016).

Hannah, 66, who retired after last season, is proud to have worked with Manning and recently shared his stories about the future Hall of Famer with columnist Mark Wiedmer of the Times Free Press in Chattanooga, Tenn.

“Peyton’s next-to-last year, the Broncos were facing the Dolphins in Denver and the whole game was a struggle for them,” Hannah told Wiedmer. “I called back two Denver touchdowns. But they pulled it out by two or three points (39-36). But late in the game, the clock about to run out, Peyton mistimed a snap and they had to run one more play.”

That’s when Manning uncharacteristically said

E“something off-color” to Hannah.

“I told him, ‘Peyton, you’re better than that,’ ” Hannah told the Times Free Press.

A few weeks later, Weidmer wrote, a package arrived at Hannah’s home, forwarded from NFL headquarters in New York City. The package contained a letter from Manning.

“He said he wanted to apologize for his reaction to me that day against the Dolphins,” Hannah told the newspaper. “Would I please accept his apology? That’s the only time that’s happened to me in all my years of officiating.”

Months later, Hannah was working a preseason game in Seattle, with the Broncos playing the Seahawks. Manning put his arm around Hannah’s shoulder, according to the Times Free Press.

“He asks me, ‘Did you get my card?’ I said, ‘Peyton, you’ve got to let this go.’ He says, ‘You have no idea how upset I was with myself.’

“That’s the kind of son Archie and Olivia raised. Pretty impressive.”

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