Peyton Manning SANTA CLARA, CA – FEBRUARY 07: Peyton Manning #18 of the Denver Broncos celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium on February 7, 2016 in Santa Clara, California. The Broncos defeated the Panthers 24-10. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

If there was one thing Peyton Manning was generally known for during his Hall of Fame career in the NFL, it was his good-natured personality and overall charm. Manning was regularly one of the more pleasant players for NFL refs to work with, but even Good Guy Peyton Manning had to let some colorful language fly in reaction to a ref’s call on the field from time to time. And when he did, he made sure to make amends with the official involved.

Longtime referee Butch Hannah is retiring from his job as an umpire after decades on a football field in either the SEC or the NFL. He crossed paths with Manning at both levels, including the 1997 SEC championship game, and had grown a mutual respect over the years as a result. Toward the end of Manning’s illustrious career, Hannah recalled one moment of frustration that pushed the even-keeled Manning over the edge in the heat of the moment.

From The Times Free Press;

“Peyton’s next-to-last year, the Broncos were facing the Dolphins in Denver and the whole game was a struggle for them,” Hannah said. “I called back two Denver touchdowns. But they pulled it out by two or three points (39-36). But late in the game, the clock about to run out, Peyton mistimed a snap and they had to run one more play. Peyton said something off-color to me, which was not at all like him.

“I told him, ‘Peyton, you’re better than that.'”

For many players around the league, that may have been the end of the story, but Manning was certainly no ordinary player. Manning took it upon himself to write a letter to Hannah, via the NFL offices, to apologize for his comments. Hannah probably had moved on from the incident by the time the package arrived, because it is likely the language he heard from Peyton’s mouth was fairly common on the field over the years.

But Manning didn’t stop there.

A few months later, Hannah was about to umpire a preseason game between the Broncos and Seahawks in Seattle. He felt someone put an arm around his shoulder.

“It’s Peyton,” said Hannah, who’s known Manning since both were in the SEC in the mid-1990s. “He asks me, ‘Did you get my card?’ I said, ‘Peyton, you’ve got to let this go.’ He says, ‘You have no idea how upset I was with myself.’ That’s the kind of son Archie and Olivia raised. Pretty impressive.”

It’s a pretty cool story for Hannah and sheds some light off the field on how Manning handled his actions on and off the field. What Manning did, allegedly, was nothing to be ashamed of, but how he handled it shows how much respect Manning had for the game and how it is officiated, which may have paid off at some point during his career with some questionable penalties for roughing the passer on opposing defenders. It certainly couldn’t have hurt Manning’s relationship with the refs, right?

[Times Free Press]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.