SPORTS

Peyton Manning solves (wink) 'Omaha' mystery

By Lindsay H. Jones
USA TODAY Sports

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Finally, Peyton Manning has made some sense of all this "Omaha" hoopla.

The Denver Broncos quarterback was heard yelling the name of the Nebraska city more than 40 times in the Broncos' divisional round win against San Diego last week, often just before the snap, setting off wild speculation about what exactly the call could mean.

Did it mean the ball was about to be snapped? Did it mean Manning was changing the play? Did it mean he really likes Nebraska? Or that he was craving a medium-rare steak?

"I've had a lot of people ask what Omaha means. Well, Omaha, it's a run play," Manning said Wednesday during his AFC Championship game week news conference.

Manning's dead-pan delivery made it seem like he was actually trying to give a lesson in football. But we should all know by now that Manning wouldn't dare give away any secrets to his pre-snap theatrics.

So Manning continued to elaborate on the Omaha call.

"But it could be a pass play, or a play-action pass, depending on a couple of things: the wind, which way we're going, the quarter, and the jerseys that we're wearing," Manning said. "It really varies, really, from play-to-play. So there's your answer to that."