Peyton Manning, Pat McAfee have wildly different responses to missed PATs
Peyton Manning has had some choice words for kickers over the years. He once famously called Indianapolis Colts teammate Mike Vanderjagt a "liquored up" idiot.
Manning left his seat in disgust Monday night after Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher missed his third consecutive PAT during their wild-card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me," Manning exclaimed. "Why are we kicking it?! Why are we kicking it?!"
He later pondered if a kicker can be cut at halftime.
Manning's memorable rant about Vanderjagt came in 2003: "Here we are, I’m out at my third Pro Bowl, I’m about to go in and throw a touchdown to Jerry Rice, we’re honoring the Hall of Fame, and we’re talking about our idiot kicker who got liquored up and ran his mouth off. … What has the sports world come to? We are talking about idiot kickers. He has ruined kickers for life. Sad thing is, he’s a good kicker. He’s a good kicker. But he’s an idiot."
Maher missed a fourth PAT early in the third quarter. He made 50 of 53 during the regular season.
Maher made a PAT on his fifth try, early in the fourth quarter, drawing applause from Manning.
Meanwhile, former Colts punter Pat McAfee was in a more forgiving mood. He believes, or at least hopes, Maher bounces back.
And after the fourth miss.
The Cowboys still went on to capture the 31-14 victory. Dallas will travel to San Francisco to take on the No. 2 seed 49ers in the NFC divisional round.