Peyton Manning Ripped The Broncos' Scoreboard Operator After Winning Thursday Night

Peyton Manning had some very strong comments for the Denver Broncos scoreboard operators following their Thursday night win over the San Diego Chargers and it is just the latest example of just how competitive Manning can be.

The issue came after the two minute warning in the fourth quarter, with the Broncos up by two touchdowns. The Broncos scoreboard operator showed Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers sitting on the sideline. This elicited some boos from the crowd. The scoreboard then showed some Broncos defenders dancing on the sideline.

The crowd roared.

There was just a small problem. The Broncos were trying to run a play and Manning was not happy. Here are his comments after the game while speaking with the media:

"I have no problem with our fans. Our fans are great. I got a problem with our scoreboard operator. I've gotta have a little talk with him [laughter from reporters who mistakenly think Manning is joking]. I'm not sure what he is doing. You know, playing music and showing players dancing, getting the crowd fired up when we have the ball. I don't think we should be doing that. I don't think we should be showing their quarterback on the sideline. I thought that was kind of disrespectful. Our fans are great. Our fans are loud. So, the scoreboard operator, it wasn't his best night."

As Manning approached the line of scrimmage, he emphatically was trying to get the crowd to quiet down as he does quite a bit of directing once his teammates are lined up. You can even see him shake his head in annoyance.

As the team lined up, Broncos right tackle Paul Cornick was flagged for a false start and Manning flipped out, angrily waving his hands at the crowd.

Keep in mind that the Broncos are winning by 14 points, have the ball, and there are only two minutes left. According to AdvancedNFLStats.com, the Broncos had a 1% chance of losing the game at that point, and that is probably rounded up.

According to Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post, who was a guest on The Dan Patrick Show and was in the booth when this occurred, "about three seconds" after the play, somebody phoned up to the booth with a message for the scoreboard operator and Kiszla's impression was that somebody was calling up to make sure it didn't happen again.

For the sake of the scoreboard operator, it is a good thing this wasn't a critical play in the game.