Omaha, Nebraska got plenty of free publicity on Sunday, as more than 40 million tuned in to watch Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning repeatedly bark out the city’s name during his pre-snap monologue.
MDS took a look at general look at the “Omaha” trend on Monday, pointing out that (as NBC’s Cris Collinsworth had observed during a 2009 game broadcast) Giants quarterback Eli Manning was using the term in a way that the snap was coming on the next sound he made.
Peyton would never be that predictable.
To get some insight, we went to a guy who knows Peyton as well as anyone in football. Tony Dungy, Manning’s head coach in Indy from 2002 through 2008, tells PFT that the term “can mean a lot of things.”
“He is using it a lot now for snap count -- on one,” Dungy said. “Then he can give them a ‘disregard’ and say ‘Omaha’ but not go on one, to keep the defense honest.”
So, basically, “Omaha” means that the snap is coming on one. Unless it doesn’t. Which is exactly the kind of doubt Peyton Manning wants in the minds of the defensive players who are trying to figure out when to go.