He doesn’t always win in the playoffs, but when he does, Peyton Manning celebrates with a magical blend of barley, hops and delicious alcohol.

After defeating Bolo Jones and the resurgent San Diego Chargers in Sunday’s AFC divisional playoff game, Manning told members of the press that his first order of business would be enjoying a cold one.

The admission came during Sunday’s postgame presser and was spotted by @SmackSports (h/t Kyle Koster of BroBible).



Members of the media were hungry for forward-looking analysis and speculative insight from the Broncos quarterback. How concerned was he to play Tom Brady? What does this win mean for the team? Is he for scuba?

Strangely enough, an abrupt inquiry about retirement managed to coax the best response from Manning: Is leaving the game of football weighing heavily on his mind?

“No, it’s really not,” Manning said. “What’s weighing on my mind is how soon I can get a Bud Light in my mouth. That’s priority No. 1.”

Can we count that as an official endorsement? Short of pulling out a long neck and sucking down suds in the press room, Manning’s declaration was good enough to merit its own commercial. Granted, he was fully within his rights to call for a victory beer.

Indeed, no one was killing his buzz on this day. Manning isn’t one to revel long in glory, but he wasn’t ready to leave this moment of joy—even for a question concerning the looming specter of his mortality.

While Manning’s primary concern was cooling off with a brew, Philip Rivers was likely chest deep in a hot tub, zipped up on horse tranquilizers. Manning described his game experience as “intense,” but this is how it felt for Rivers.

GIF via Josh Hill of Fansided:

It was a good day to be a Broncos fan and an even better day to be Manning, who’s one step closer to prying the postseason fail-chimp off his back.

With that said, be on the lookout for a Bud Light commercial featuring Manning in the future.

I picture him taking a knee and saying, "Am I going to die one day? Maybe. But until then, I’m having a cold one. Bud Light: The neutral zone of beers."

Bud Light: Put it in your face.

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