Peyton Manning had “Omaha!”
Russell Wilson has … “Pizza! Pizza!”
And, no, it’s not just free advertising for Little Caesars, the official pizza sponsor of the NFL.
When Wilson called out “Pizza! Pizza!” against the Cleveland Browns last week, he was altering his teammates to an audible. Wilson was not completely changing the play. Rather, as The Athletic‘s Nate Tice pointed out on Twitter/X, the Denver Broncos quarterback was flipping a play.
Denver had originally called a read option play to the right side of the field. After getting to the line of scrimmage and seeing Cleveland’s alignment, Wilson called out “Pizza! Pizza!” to flip the play to the left side instead.
Broncos running back Javonte Williams and fullback Michael Burton switched sides before the snap and Wilson then ran a read-option with Williams to the left side of the field instead of the right.
Wilson clearly made the right decision — he ended up keeping the ball and rushed for 19 yards. Here’s a sampling of how fans reacted to the audible on social media.
Did Russell Wilson yell, “Pizza! Pizza!”? 🍕@Nate_Tice explains why on the latest Wind The Clock.
Watch: https://t.co/fUrZqp7M1c pic.twitter.com/3Ikv6nrSjF
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) November 28, 2023
Bro just wants some Little Caesars 😭😭😭
— Ben (@HowUBenFeller) November 26, 2023
Russell Wilson’s “pizza pizza” audible worked well pic.twitter.com/L7VgIJbMBi
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) November 26, 2023
Russell Wilson with the pizza pizza audible 😂
— Joe (@joe_lagor) November 26, 2023
Pizza Pizza leads to a big Russell Wilson scramble that gets the Broncos into the red zone!!
— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) November 26, 2023
Did I just hear Russell Wilson call a “pizza pizza” audible??? 😭😭😭
— メ𝟶 🇵🇷 (@iLuvGothChicks) November 26, 2023
Russell Wilson with the "pizza pizza" audible 🍕
🎥: @NFL pic.twitter.com/knCUEa4HBg
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) November 26, 2023
PIZZA PIZZA means Russell Wilson amazing fake! #BroncosCountry
— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) November 26, 2023
russell wilson said “pizza pizza” and then made a beautiful play we’re winning a super bowl
— ₁₅𝕁𝕠𝕜𝕖𝕀𝕟𝔸𝔹𝕠𝕩 (@jokerwrld) November 26, 2023
Was that a “pizza pizza” audible by Russell Wilson?
— trey wingo (@wingoz) November 26, 2023
Russell Wilson: "PIZZA PIZZA!"
The #Broncos are now up 14-0 over the #Browns !pic.twitter.com/DgWcULX28Tpic.twitter.com/6iUcQQa2kbhttps://t.co/14uIT3NTRz
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 26, 2023
So, we had 'Omaha' with Peyton Manning, now we've got 'Pizza Pizza' with Russell Wilson.
— Tony Knowles (@tonyknowles36) November 26, 2023
🗣️ Pizza! Pizza! 🍕
With respect to “Omaha!” — new favorite audible unlocked 😅pic.twitter.com/fPiWM05G2G
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 27, 2023
Pizza!Pizza! always works https://t.co/hWr1NZhQPC
— Little Caesars Pizza (@littlecaesars) November 26, 2023
Now we wait to see if Little Caesars will reward Russell Wilson with an endorsement deal. That man deserves some free pizza!