Peyton Manning was not the same player we are used to seeing in the Broncos’ home loss to the Colts in the playoffs on Sunday.
Manning struggled to throw ordinary passes as he went 26-of-46 for 211 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. His arm strength has declined over the years, but it was noticeably bad on Sunday. He couldn’t hit a deep ball for the life of him, and he just didn’t have any zip on his passes.
Rather than be empathetic with the aging quarterback who probably was hiding a serious injury, the internet decided to mock the 38-year-old’s declining health with some memes.
Most of the jokes centered around Manning throwing “ducks” with his noodle arm. These are harsh:
It's sad to say, but this is what Peyton Manning looks like now… pic.twitter.com/xTa5myIh7n
— SportsNation (@SportsNation) January 12, 2015
@mikefreemanNFL pic.twitter.com/aPlNKksJZS
— lorena carrera (@renac1212) January 12, 2015
Peyton Manning duck hunt
— Milmore (@StoolMilmore) January 12, 2015
Peyton Manning noodle arm:
@Paul_Jackiewicz pic.twitter.com/bKAabs6jxe
— BlackJohnnyBravo (@Curt_Leonidas) January 12, 2015
Then came the Papa John’s jokes and retirement home cracks:
BREAKING: Papa John’s Pizza has replaced Peyton Manning pic.twitter.com/qOtjmfQfUa
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) January 12, 2015
Peyton Manning’s boss next year pic.twitter.com/SidlQBBoi3
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) January 12, 2015
It’s really tough watching Peyton go out like this. My guess is we’ll learn he had some sort of injury he was playing through, he’ll have surgery and come back healed next season. Or maybe he just doesn’t have arm strength anymore and he’s going to retire.
