If you were a child of the nineties, you may have grown up with a Vortex football.
The classic toy was a fixture for any young football fan, promising the ability to throw it as far as your favorite NFL quarterbacks. And it made a noise when you threw it! What could be better!
Denver Broncos legend and Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway was the spokesperson for the Vortex, as he had one of the strongest arms in football. And when he was a guest on the 2026 debut of the ManningCast on Monday Night Football with the Broncos visiting the Kansas City Chiefs, the Mannings pulled out the classic clip.
But they didn’t just replay the commercial and reminisce about the old times; they went the extra mile, as the Mannings are prone to do. Eli and Peyton turned it into a phenomenal segment with Eli trying to outdo John Elway with the longest pass in recorded history. As he threw a ball in his studio, one landed in the lap of Peyton Manning in the other.
While Eli played the goofy comic relief, complete with the humming noise from the original Vortex, Peyton played the straight man.
The Vortex segment goes off the rails on the ManningCast.
Peyton Manning: “What are we doing? This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. I’m sorry, John (Elway). This is brutal. What are we doing?… We’ve reached a new low here. A new low here. Geez. What are we doing?” pic.twitter.com/dzvmZF2SfU
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 15, 2026
“What are we doing? This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. I’m sorry, John (Elway). This is brutal. What are we doing?” Peyton said. “We’ve reached a new low here. A new low here. Geez. What are we doing?”
It’s that kind of completely over-the-top silliness that makes the ManningCast always worth the watch. And their ability to make the biggest names in football history laugh over a commercial that’s 30 years old is truly unique. At least it provided some much-needed entertainment as the Broncos were getting blown out by the Chiefs.
In case you want to relive your childhood, or you’re a Gen Z or Gen Alpha kid wondering what this is all about, you can actually still buy Nerf Vortex footballs at your local retailer near you today.
About Matt Yoder