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Buffalo Bills QB Nathan Peterman Throws Five Interceptions, Mocked And Compared to ‘Uncle Rico’ On Twitter

By Glenn Hadley
Published on: 15:59 PST, Nov 19, 2017

Is Nathan Peterman better or worse than Uncle Rico?

That was one of the questions asked on Twitter shortly after the Buffalo Bills’ quarterback threw five interceptions in the team’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday.

Perhaps an even more shocking “accomplishment” that occurred during the game that led more Bills fans to wonder why Tyrod Taylor was benched in the first place was the timing of Peterman’s interceptions. Most experienced NFL quarterbacks would view five interceptions as a tough pill to swallow for an entire game. Nathan Peterman managed to achieve that infamous milestone within just the first two quarters.

According to the Bleacher Report, the 23-year-old former University of Pittsburgh student-athlete managed to throw more interceptions in the first half of one game than Tyrod Taylor threw within the first nine games of the season for the same team. At this point, Tyrod Taylor has only thrown three interceptions so far. However, the Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott still decided to bench Taylor in favor of Nathan Peterman for Sunday’s game against the Chargers – a decision that fans, critics, and social media users will more than likely never allow him to forget.

It did not take very long for the tweets, memes, and GIFs to start rolling in, especially after Peterman threw his second and third interceptions – forcing fans, critics, and commentators to realize that maybe it was not going to get any better for the former fifth-round pick.

Peterman was even compared to Uncle Rico – the aged former high school football star-turned-salesman known for an unhealthy attachment to his past fantasies of gridiron stardom – from the 2004 comedy Napoleon Dynamite.

Even with Nathan Peterman’s abysmal performance on the field during Sunday’s game, coach McDermott stood by his decision during post-game interviews. According to the Los Angeles Times, McDermott stated that he regretted the result, but not the decision. He further admitted that he knew he was taking a gamble by making the decision to switch out his quarterbacks against the Chargers and alluded to his overall long-term strategy.

“You know when you put a young player out there as your quarterback, there’s going to be some ups and downs… This is about not only winning now, but also the future.”

Nathan Peterman may not have handled himself very well against the Chargers in Sunday’s game, but he did manage to maintain his composure during post-game interviews. Even with the flood of criticism, mocks, and memes that were flooding online at the time with his name attached to them, he apparently was able to compartmentalize the frustration when expressing his thoughts and feelings on his performance.

“I think anybody that would go through this would be disappointed because it means a lot to you. You do put a lot of work and a lot of time and energy into trying to go out there and win. It’s definitely tough.”

During Sunday’s game, Nathan Peterman was eventually benched in favor of Tyrod Taylor during the third quarter. Even though it has not been confirmed officially, most spectators agree that it is clear Tyrod will be starting once again as the leading quarterback for the Buffalo Bills during next week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Only time will tell if Nathan Peterman is able to grow from his hard-hitting learning experience in the future.

[Featured Image by Jae C. Hong/AP Images]

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