Jeff Saturday and Peyton Manning had a decade together in the NFL with the intimate bond that only a quarterback and his center can share.
And after Manning said during Monday Night Football this week that he “knew Jeff Saturday’s butt cheeks as well as anybody,” Saturday had the chance to respond on the Pardon My Take podcast.
Asked by PFT Commenter whether he would recognize Manning’s hands in his butt versus Aaron Rodgers or other QBs he played with during his NFL career, Saturday confirmed without hesitation.
But first he corrected the wording of the question — “on” not “in.”
“I could 100 percent tell it was Peyton for sure,” Saturday said. “I played in the league 13 years, so I would hope I would recognize the way that he would take a snap as opposed to everybody else.”
Could Jeff Saturday identify Peyton Mannings hand under center if he was blindfolded? @SaturdayJeff pic.twitter.com/LYXyw28e2m
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) December 15, 2023
Saturday detailed that the awareness of Manning’s hands comes from taking snaps and nothing more.
“I don’t know the softness of his hand, any of that,” Saturday added.
The longtime center and ESPN analyst also let it be known he didn’t appreciate Manning making their butt-hand connection a talking point all week.
“He just sits back and sends a little text, ‘hope you enjoyed that,'” Saturday laughed. “That’s he and Eli, they love doing it.”
Certainly Saturday wasn’t expecting having to discuss his own back side leading into Week 14 of the NFL season, but he knows his connection with Manning is part of what makes him unique in the media space. And with Manning joining the television world himself, the back-and-forth is all part of the fun.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.