Never too late for Peyton to say he’s sorry
Peyton Manning now has been retired for more than a year, but the tales of his prolific letter writing and thoughtfulness continue to roll in.
Recently retired referee Butch Hannah relayed this story to the Chattanooga Times-Free Press
about how Manning got on his case — and then later tried to make amends.
“Peyton’s next-to-last year, the Broncos were facing the Dolphins in Denver and the whole game was a struggle for them,” Hannah said. “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 [was] about to run out, Peyton mistimed a snap and they had to run one more play. Peyton said something off-color to me, which was not at all like him.
“I told him, ‘Peyton, you’re better than that.’ ”
Within a few weeks, a FedEx package arrived at Hannah’s house, by way of the league offices in New York City. Inside was a letter handwritten by Manning.
“He said he wanted to apologize for his reaction to me that day against the Dolphins,” Hannah said. “Would I please accept his apology? That’s the only time that’s happened to me in all my years of officiating.”
Hannah then was working a preseason game the next season between the Broncos and Seahawks in Seattle when he felt someone throw an arm around his shoulder.
“It’s Peyton,” Hannah said. “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.”