The back-and-forth banter between Peyton and Eli Manning is often cited as a big part of the success of the ManningCast Monday Night Football alternate feed (technically, Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli). And it was on display around the Sports Emmy Awards Monday night, where Peyton won for “Outstanding Personality/Event Analyst,” and Eli chirped him afterwards on Twitter:
I did not know you could win an Emmy for just telling fans when coaches should call timeout. https://t.co/cb6rSiXHqj
— Eli Manning (@EliManning) May 23, 2023
It’s the latest in a long line of back–and–forths between the brothers. In October, they gave some good quotes on why that’s a key part of their broadcasting dynamic to Jeff Agrest of The Chicago Sun-Times:
Eli, who does the show out of his basement, had no desire to enter broadcasting after he retired in July 2021. He didn’t think he’d be good at it, and he, too, didn’t want to travel and be away on weekends. But what especially drew him to doing the show was working with Peyton.
“There’s that brotherly back-and-forth where I make tons of mistakes, and before the media has a chance to call me out, Peyton’s going to call me out,” Eli said. “We never miss an opportunity to call each other out for a mistake or being completely wrong. We’re very blunt and honest, but we’re not sensitive to it, and I think that’s what makes it very authentic.”
Said Peyton: “Eli likes to make fun of my forehead a lot. He calls it my five-head. I have thick skin, growing up with two brothers [Cooper is the oldest], so you take that. But before every kickoff, Eli and I have a reminder: ‘The viewer is sitting right between you and I and watching it with us. Let’s make it fun, and hopefully the audience is having fun, as well.’ ”
The Mannings certainly do have plenty of fun on camera, and many viewers seem to be having fun watching them as well. And this Sports Emmy for Peyton (part of a good night there for ESPN, which led all networks with 59 nominations and won a company-record 13 awards) is just the latest recognition for the ManningCast, which has also led to him and his Omaha Productions company (valued at $400 million in a recent investment from Peter Chernin) launching similar alternate broadcasts in other sports. Meanwhile, Eli (seen at top on Peyton’s Places in 2021) may say he doesn’t consider himself a broadcaster, but he’s doing a pretty good job of it, and has been cited as a key reason for the success of the ManningCast. And, as shown by this Twitter chirp (and other things, such as his Chad Powers disguise), he can be pretty funny as well.
[Eli Manning on Twitter; top screenshot from ESPN+]
