By Jeff Jacobs, The Hartford Courant
DENVER — Peyton Manning, well, Peyton Manning is filet mignon. Terrance Knighton? He is Pot Roast.
“When I first signed here, I tried to get rid of that name,” Knighton said after the Denver Broncos beat the Patriots 26-16, and just about every other way to advance to the Super Bowl. “I’m going to embrace it. The fans like it. I like it. It’s cool.”
It’s good that the big nose tackle out of Windsor High, all 6 feet 3, 335 pounds of him, embraces it, because Pot Roast was trending hotter on Twitter late Sunday afternoon than Dennis Rodman in North Korea and Kim Kardashian in stretch pants.
The nation’s football fans fell in love with the nickname after Knighton sacked Tom Brady late in the third quarter on a fourth down play in the AFC Championship Game that essentially sealed the Broncos’ trip to East Rutherford, N.J. It was huge play in a huge day for a huge guy.
Kid grows up playing football in the Hartford area and there’s only one question to ask: Giants or Patriots?
“Patriots,” Knighton said. “My family’s Patriots fans. I’m still a Patriots fan deep-down inside. When I’m done playing, I’ll be a Patriot fan. But not today. I didn’t care who I was playing against today.”
To read the rest of Jeff Jacobs’ column, click here to go to Courant.com.