Yesterday on the last day of the Labor Day weekend, ESPN’s popular alternate Monday Night Football broadcast led by Peyton and Eli Manning teased a big announcement.
The ManningCast has really grown since its inception back in 2021. One could argue that the production value has some room for improvement, but that’s not why football fans are tuning in. Everyone flips on the broadcast to see two brothers (who also happened to have legendary NFL careers) poke fun at one another as they break down the game.
And with the “teaser” yesterday that was released, fans were left thinking that a third full-time host was going to be added to the ManningCast. I speculated who it could be, but you might as well throw my list out the window when you watch this crazy audition video.
Some pretty reasonable celebrities, coaches, and athletes stopped by to audition, but then there were also some outlandish possible hosts that were giving it a shot. From the NFL world, the list of people that wanted to be a part of the ManningCast was pretty impressive:
-Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff
-Minnesota Viking quarterback Kirk Cousins
-Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton
-Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay
-Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell
-New York Jets running back Dalvin Cook
-Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniels
Every snippet that they showed of the above players and coaches’ auditions was hilarious, and then things really got off the rails when DJ Khaled, Mike Tyson, Reese Witherspoon, Olivia Dunne, and Lil Wayne all tried to show Peyton and Eli what they had to offer.
The best cameos came towards the very end of the “skit” (seems like the third host thing could be just a joke) when two pretty big names in sports showed up.
ESPN’s Pat McAfee didn’t think the gig was a right fit for him as Peyton Manning tried to duct tape sleeves onto him, and then a former foe of Peyton and Eli didn’t even get the chance to audition and was literally left in the dark.
The two brothers got through the entire ensemble of auditions, and Eli jokingly said that unless there’s someone “perfect for the job” left on the list, it was going to just be the two of them again this year. As Peyton marked and crossed out a remaining name on his clipboard, he said “nope, not on this list.”
That’s when the video cuts to Tom Brady seemingly in the “waiting room” for the audition, with the lights turning off on him. The whole thing wraps up with Brady on the phone saying:
“I didn’t get the ManningCast job. I guess I’ll just come back and play football again.”
Take a look:
The video was hilarious to say the least, and while it acted as a great teaser for the third year of the ManningCast (which is the last year of a three-year deal they originally signed with ESPN), it also revealed the schedule for the Manning brothers’ alternate broadcast:
-Week 1, September 11 – Buffalo Bills at New York Jets
-Week 4, October 2 – Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants
-Week 5, October 9 – Green Bay Packers at Las Vegas Raiders
-Week 7, October 23 – San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings
-Week 9, November 6 – Los Angeles Chargers at New York Jets
-Week 10, November 13 – Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills
-Week 11, November 20 – Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs
-Week 13, December 4 – Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars
-Week 15, December 18 – Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
-NFL Wildcard Playoffs, January 15, 2024 – Matchup TBD
Fans of the ManningCast couldn’t get enough of the sketch, and were even surprised by a couple of the cameos:
Peyton and Eli are carrying ESPN like LeBron on those Cavs teams dawg
— Philly Nation (@Philly__Nation) September 5, 2023
@KirkCousins8 nailed the audition pic.twitter.com/Bdwt9OEHhr
— Aaron ⚓🏀 ⚾️ 🏈 (@bowling23) September 5, 2023
These guys have been surprisingly really funny
— Key (@Dao_Bod) September 5, 2023
I have never been a Dolphins fan, clearly given my Bills fandom. But I have to say Mike McDaniel has a great personality in addition to his football IQ. I imagine his team loves playing for him.
— Stogie OShea (@Stogie_Oshea) September 5, 2023
This is golden.
— Adam Thompson (@BookiesAdam) September 5, 2023
