After quarterback Peyton Manning helped the Denver Broncos win Super Bowl 50, everyone wanted to know what he was going to do next.
There's been a lot of speculation that he would retire after the game, because he's already had such a long career at age 39.
Apparently, Manning just wants to relax with a Budweiser. 🍺
"I'm going to take some time to reflect," Manning said to CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson. "I got a couple priorities first. I want to go kiss my wife and my kids, I want to go hug my family. I'm going to drink a lot of Budweiser."
A lot of people were kinda shocked by the comment and speculated that Manning had been paid to plug the brand.
We didn’t know that shout out was coming either. True champions recognize kings @JimmyKimmel. #SB50
But a Budweiser representative chimed in to say that they did not pay Manning to endorse Budweiser, adding they "were surprised and delighted that he did."
Hi Internet. For the record, Budweiser did not pay Peyton Manning to mention Budweiser tonight. We were surprised and delighted that he did.
Still, the beer company admitted they were really excited about the endorsement.
Budweiser marketing executives right now
Pretty much! https://t.co/0SdYu0pA69
They even offered to send a few beers to his team.
Congrats to Peyton and the whole @Broncos team. Where would one ship 50 cases of Bud? Just curious. #ThisBudsForYou #SB50
Despite Budweiser's statement, some people were still skeptical.
Why did Peyton mention Bud Light? According to @beerbizdaily, he owns a piece of two A-B distributors (H/T @tannerscholtes)
A publisher of trade publication Beer Biz Daily said Manning owned stakes in two Louisiana-based Anheuser-Busch InBev distributors, which feature Budweiser.
Yeah, he does. https://t.co/H18gcsipDI
A marketing group based in Detroit said the kind of placement Manning gave the brand was worth more than $1 million.
Post game quote "I'm going to drink a lot of @Budweiser tonight.." Peyton Manning. That gave beer brand $1.6MM+ brand recognition value
Other people pointed out that Bud Light is the official beer of the NFL, a deal Anheuser-Busch InBev paid more than $1 billion to make.
Nice plug by Peyton for Budweiser, official beer of the NFL
Anyways, hope you enjoy your beer, Peyton!
Peyton Manning after all that Budweiser he's drinking tonight. 😂