Peyton Manning didn’t know he couldn’t do that.
With his Broncos stuck in the mud early in the third quarter on Sunday, locked up at 7-7 against the underdog Redskins, Manning was stripped in the backfield by Ryan Kerrigan.
As the ball bounced toward the sideline, both Manning and Washington linebacker Brian Orakpo gave chase. It quickly became clear that the quarterback — who would not exactly be classified as “mobile” — had no chance of outsprinting Orakpo, so Manning instead decided to wrap his arms around the defender in an attempt to toss him away from the ball.
It didn’t work. Orakpo easily recovered the fumble, and Manning was called for holding on the play — a rule he says he did not even know existed.
“It’s been a while,” Manning said of the penalty, according to The Denver Post. “I didn’t know they even called that. I saw the ball. [Orakpo] was in between the ball and me. I figured worst case, we recovered. I didn’t even think you can call that. I was trying to slow him down for someone else to recover. Not the ideal situation.”
The turnover led to a quick Redskins touchdown, and Manning then threw a pick-six on his very next pass to give the visitors a 21-7 lead. It was all Broncos the rest of the way, however, as Denver went on to pile up 38 unanswered points en route to a 45-21 win.
Check out Manning’s blunder in the GIFs below, courtesy of Business Insider.
