Peyton Manning Spotted Courtside Hitting Every Dad Move In The Book At Last Night’s Lakers/Nuggets NBA Game

Peyton Manning NFL

There are a few celebrities that just seem to be everywhere you look.

Steve Harvey is on every waiting room television in America, Stephen A. Smith is on ESPN 24/7 (which might be why he got weird about Martha Stewart’s swimsuit cover), and Peyton Manning seems to be busier in his post-football career than he was when he played.

Besides recently being announced again as the co-host for the 2023 CMA Awards alongside Luke Bryan, it looks like Peyton was enjoying some downtime by taking in the Western Conference finals courtside.

Last night, the Denver Nuggets took a 2-0 series lead against the Los Angeles Lakers, and the series now heads back to L.A. for the next two games. As the teams left the floor following the game, the former Denver Broncos quarterback was seen reacting in a plethora of ways, and is now going viral.

I won’t take all of the credit for this article idea since “Bum Chillups AKA Spencer Hall” originally tweeted this out as a quote tweet:

“Hits five or six different Dad moves in 10 seconds, incredible.”

As you watch the video of Peyton Manning reacting to the end of the game, see if you can spot all of the different “classic Dad moves” that the former footballer pulls off:

I absolutely love that we got to see Peyton’s visceral reaction to the end of the game, and if I’m being honest, that first shot that pans to him makes it look like he had money on the Lakers (who lost).

But this isn’t about sports betting, this is about the masterclass of Dad reactions that Manning showcased. I’ve got the ones that I noticed listed below, but feel free to let me know if I missed any. I’ll go in the order of how they happened:

The Stoic, Scrunched Face with Hands in the Pockets

Easily one of the most popular and recognizable looks for disappointed fathers. Eyes wandering, lips sucked in, hands snuggly in the pockets. Peyton is executing this one to a tee. No one ever wants to see their father figure pulling out this move.

The Subtle Head Nod Into The Sad, Slow Encouragement Clap

This is a favorite for those dads who have their child in a sport that they know they aren’t any good at. Peyton begins with the subtle head nod, then starts the slow clap like he just watched his son somehow strike out for the third time in t-ball. His hands are clapping, which is generally a move of encouragement, but his face says it all.

The Knucks

Extending the knuckles towards another human being is quite possibly the greeting of choice for all fathers. Manning is clearly a long time user of the knucks, and pulls it off with comfort and ease. Did he know the person he gave the knucks to? No probably not, but that’s probably why he chose the knucks in the first place.

The Under-The-Nose, Top-Of-The-Finger Itch

The master of this one is the one and only Tiger Woods, who does it so much that it somehow genetically passed down to his son Charlie (look it up). Peyton looks pretty comfortable doing it as well, though I have to say the timing of his was little unhygienic. He uses the same hand to ease of the under-nose itch that he did to give out the knucks. Deducting a couple of points from you there Peyton…

The Gaze and Soft Smile

I don’t know why dads do this one so much, but they do. It is clear that Peyton is gazing over towards the Lakers tunnel and hitting us with a soft smile. However, it isn’t always that easy to narrow down what a dad is smiling at. The gaze and soft smile could be the fact that he sees a turkey or deer off in the distance, or it could just be that he is off in his own world and just remembered something joyful from his past (probably his college days).

The Retreating Back To Thumbs Out, Hands In Pockets

You might not have noticed this one since it acts as the dismount of the performance. Peyton finishes up his myriad of classic father gestures and movements, and has no choice but to return his hands to the comfort of his pockets. That’s what they’re there for, right? The important distinction is the “thumbs out” method he uses, which basically just keeps the thumb at the ready in case he needs to do another iconic dad move: the thumbs up.

We all knew that Peyton Manning had a lot of football skill and wasn’t too shabby at hosting shows and events either, but this video proves that Manning is a certified dad and can pull out all of the stops at the drop of a hat.

The father of two clearly knows the role of “Living the Dad Life.”

A beer bottle on a dock

STAY ENTERTAINED

A RIFF ON WHAT COUNTRY IS REALLY ABOUT

A beer bottle on a dock